Malakh Angel: Project Noah
by Cal Boggs
Summary: The story of Xenogears with new characters and new story arcs, scenes, and twists. Hope you enjoy!
1. Prologue—Light From the Netherworlds

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Prologue–Light From The Netherworlds

In the dark, cold abyss of space, the massive warship Eldridge cruised as silently as a wraith. A Philadelphia class warship, the Eldridge was the biggest and most powerful warship in the Galaxy Federation Navy. Over 60 miles in length, it resembled a Boeing 747 except it didn't have wings. It had 4 sets of columns that jutted out from the sides of the ship at even intervals, two sets of 3 on each side. In the rear of the ship, the bridge structure rose up as the highest position on the vessel, somewhat resembling the tail of the above mentioned jet liner. Behind that lay the mighty engines which propelled the ship. They looked sort of like giant exhaust mufflers that were bent so that they resembled a giant Menorah. Carrying over 500 laser batteries, the ship was armed to the teeth. She could carry 25,000 passengers and 50,000 enlisted troops quite comfortably, to say nothing of the crew quarters, which could house her full complement of 7,000. She was like a small country this ship, and indeed, some of her blocks even contained small-scale cities.

On this particular voyage however, most of her living space was occupied by passengers; people who had been rescued from a terrible tragedy. In the cargo hold, a truly monstrous thing was being carried. The plan was to drop it into a nearby Black Hole where it would be destroyed and never repeat the tragedy of what had happened a few days ago. The crew for the most part hadn't spoken much, and Special Duty Captain Shigeyoshi Inoue was no exception.

A quiet man by nature, he had been selected as the Eldridge's captain for it's special mission. He had an impressive career in the Federation Navy, serving in numerous wars, but had been a bit surprised at this assignment. Sitting now in his chair on the bridge during the so-called "graveyard" shift when most of the passengers were asleep, he sipped his coffee slowly, some of it dribbling onto his thick brown beard. Everything had gone according to plan so far, and IT had remained in stasis just as had been assured. Still, a great feeling of unease swept over him as a planet came into view from the viewport. Captain Inoue glanced briefly at his computerized chart. Good, the uninhabited planet capable of supporting life but one that for some reason had never produced any, that was the one he was seeing now, it was labeled simply as LV-462. So far they were on course, only 2 more days till Hole IX-9786, the Black Hole they were heading towards. Sighing quietly, he continued sipping his coffee as the Eldridge cruised on.

Captain Inoue eyed his watch. 1:45 a.m. standard time. Yawning, he turned back to his console. So far, everything seemed normal. He glanced down from his elevated position to the rest of the bridge crew, sitting below him. There were 3 technicians on this shift, all female, and all dressed in identical yellow jumpsuits. They were all standard government issue, and he trusted each and every one of them. The Federation HAD selected its best officers for this mission after all. He thoughts drifted to the computer on this ship, Razael. It was a true wonder, an artificial intelligence that documented every little thing happening on the ship, while at the same time controlling life support, engine speed, and navigation. There was nothing really for the captain to do but sit back and issue orders. Razael handled everything else. Just as his thoughts started to stray to his family, the bridge panels suddenly lit up with an angry red and alarms went off everywhere simultaneously.

"This is an emergency, level one alert" Razael's automated but emotionless voice spoke. The blond haired chief operator's eyes swept over her console, trying to take assessment of all the alarms going off and trying to isolate the problem.

"Omega One restarting. Alpha One genome restructuring. Confirming exon replacement. Base code 85 million. 100 million! Its speed is overwhelming!" she cried at the figures leaping before her. So, Captain Inoue thought, the damn thing must've woken up. Another technician began reading off information as it was fed to her panel. The damn thing was hacking Razael.

"Alpha One to Razael Central, access confirmed. Initializing fake net." The technician activated Razael's first line of defense, a false net that the contamination would hopefully follow. "Disconnected" the techie exclaimed as the contamination failed to enter the false net. "Activating emergency shelter…..denied!" the techie was growing worried, her voice was rising, the second strategy, firewalls, had failed as well.

"Metastasis and contamination is spreading widely! Captain?" the first techie looked back at Captain Inoue, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. Captain Inoue was still calm at this point. He had been in far worse situations after all. True, the damn thing was apparently trying to take over his ship, but it had not succeeded yet.

"Cut off the cables manually." he said calmly. That would stop it, once the network cables were severed, the thing's program wouldn't be able to continue on to Razael's mainframe.

"Roger, activating self-destruct ports" the techie called out as she pressed a button that blew off a section of the network cables in the bowels of the ship. That'll stop it, thought Captain Inoue confidently. Sorry you piece of trash, but you just failed, he thought, with a sense of accomplishment.

Deep in the ship, where the severed network cable lay, a surge of electricity built up at the place where the cable was breached, and then it leaped impossibly across the gap, continuing its journey, it hadn't lost yet, not by a long shot.

"Confirming…..no good! Nothing happened!" the techie called out as the contamination spread further into Razael. "We can't stop it! 98 percent of our weapons have been taken over!" What the hell? How the hell could a program continue on past severed network cables? Captain Inoue could hardly believe it. The damn thing WAS taking over his ship.

"Captain, we're being rerouted, we're heading….for our capital planet!"

"Damn!" Captain Inoue said, but his voice still didn't rise much. So, now his ship was being rerouted to their capital. That could mean only one thing, IT was planning on wiping out his government. But he wouldn't let that happen, no way in hell! Picking up a phone next to him, he spoke into it. "Engine room. Activate the emergency sealing system." If he couldn't control his ship's destination, then neither could the thing. Once the engines were shut off and sealed, this ship wouldn't be going anywhere. He could then sit back and wait for the cavalry. Unfortunately, his engine room staff weren't responding. After a few seconds, the line just went dead. "What the….." Captain Inoue trailed off. Suddenly, all of the computer screens on the bridge froze and one sentence appeared over and over again on them in crimson letters.

YOU SHALL BE AS GODS over and over again, the words searing into Captain Inoue's brain. The damn thing had taken over his ship! It took him only a few seconds to make a final calculation, and with calmness still in his voice, he ordered the ship to be evacuated.

"Order all passengers to the escape pods. All personnel evacuate immediately. I'll send a dispatch after the ship has been evacuated. All of you…..evacuate now." The techies stared at him briefly, then punched the evacuation alarm. As they started heading for the escape pods, the head techie glanced quickly at Captain Inoue who was still seated in his chair.

"Captain….." she trailed off. He simply shook his head. Understanding, she took off down the corridor.

Everywhere frantic people clambered towards the escape pods as sirens blared throughout the ship. The evacuation went smoothly enough, but as the pods launched, the weapons on the ship turned towards them, and before a helpless Captain Inoue, who watched, horrified, the weapons mercilessly opened fire on the pods, blasting each and every one of them, not a single one escaping. He stood up, watching the cruel and horrible act transpiring before him. There was absolutely nothing he could do, and now, everyone who had been on the ship only moments ago were all dead. The refugees, the soldiers, the crew, everyone. All heartlessly slaughtered. He sank back into his chair, a feeling of loss washing over him, blanketing him. Turning slowly to a panel, he pushed a few buttons, he still wasn't done yet, he'd blow this ship up, and that horrible thing with it. Taking a gold locket out of his blue uniform pocket, he gently, carefully opened it to reveal a photograph of his smiling wife and 14 year old daughter. He smiled, pushing the button that began the 5 second countdown. Closing his eyes, he put his mind at ease as a gigantic explosion tore the ship apart. Unfortunately, the thing that had taken control of his ship also managed to suppress the destruction to an extent, and several large sections of the ship, including the one carrying the thing, plummeted to the nearby planet, pulled in by its gravity. The pieces accelerated at a rapid rate, smashing into the planet with incredible force.

A short while later, near some burning wreckage that had crashed on a beach of the planet, a woman stood up. Completely naked with long, flowing blue hair that swept down to her feet, she gazed out over the ocean as flaming debris continued to fall far out on the azure sea, creating an eerie light from the Netherworlds. The woman smiled, her hair being whipped by a brisk wind, yes, she smiled, for this marked the day that both god and man had fallen to earth.


	2. Chapter 1: My Village is Number One

The continent of Ignas, in the northern hemisphere of our world. On this, the largest continent, a war has been raging between two countries for hundreds of years. In the north of the continent lies the Kislev Empire, in the south lies the desert kingdom of Aveh. The war has gone on for so long that the people have forgotten the cause, knowing only the pointless circle of hostility and tragedy.

The chronic war obsession was soon to encounter a devastating change. This was due to the 'Ethos', an institution that preserves our world's culture, repairing tools and weapons excavated from the ruins of an ancient civilization. At once both countries excavated these ruins, and had the 'Ethos' repair the discoveries, in order to increase their military power.

The various weapons excavated from the ruins greatly changed the form of warfare. The outcome of the battles between the two countries was no longer determined by man-to-man combat, but by 'Gears' - giant humanoid fighting machines - that were obtained from deep within the ruins.

Eventually, after continuous swings in the state of the war, Kislev gained the upper hand. The major factor behind this lay in the enormous difference in the amount of resources buried within their ruins. But suddenly a mysterious military force appeared in the continent of Ignas. Called 'Gebler', this force decided to make contact with Aveh.

With the assistance of this Gebler military force, Aveh was able to recover from being hopelessly outnumbered to being back on an even standing with Kislev. Then, taking further advantage of its newly gained momentum, Aveh started to capture one territory after another from Kislev, showing no indication of slowing down in their invasion campaign.

The story begins here…..in small Lahan Village, situated in the Kingdom of Aveh and quite close to the Kislev border…..

The smooth hairs of the brush moved fluidly over the canvas. The smells of numerous paints filled the room as Sean Athanasios moved his brush with great delicacy, one of his eyes squinted at the thick canvas in front of him. He had been working on this particular painting for almost 3 weeks now, and it was very nearly done. Sean had been painting his best friend, a purple lizard Demihuman named Randall Boggs. Randall had been gone from Lahan for nearly a year now, and Sean sorely missed him. It was Randall's departure that had made Sean consider painting him; he had just never gotten around to it till now.

Sean was of average height, with a slightly above build. He had been working on his martial arts ever since he had been brought to Lahan 3 years ago, and his workouts had definitely paid off. He had milk chocolate brown hair that wasn't too long, and wasn't too short. Having an easy countenance with penetrating blue eyes, Sean was well liked by the villagers, even if he was an outsider.

His friend on the canvas however, looked as different to Sean as white looked to black. Randall's body was in the shape of an S, a scaly S that is, his head being on the top with the tail making up the last portion. Having 8 limbs, 4 legs and 4 arms, with fronds on the top of his head below green orbs that were his eyes. Randall Boggs had been Sean's first true friend here, and so Sean figured he'd at least create something to remember him by. The painting was coming along quite nicely; Sean had just put the finishing touches on Randall's blue tail. The painting made Sean smile. It showed Randall up close smiling a toothy grin with the Lahan windmill in the background. Most of Sean's paintings were landscapes of the various countryside around the village. This was the first real painting he had done of an actual person.

Putting the palate down, he stretched his arms up and yawned. "Ahhh! Time for a break" he said as he shook his painting hand to get the cramp out. He had no idea where he had learned to paint; it just sort of came to him as something he had always been able to do. In fact, he could remember nothing ever since that man in a green cloak and fish mask had brought him to this village 3 years ago. He had been told he was badly hurt, and that all the man said were Sean's name, and that he'd like someone to look after him. He then left without a word.

Now he was nearly 18, but try as he had, he had been unable to recall anything about his past whatsoever. He had been taken in by Chief Lee, the kind, elderly head of the village, and had made friends fast.

Leaving the room, Sean walked down the hall and climbed a set of stairs to the first floor of the house, Sean having come from the basement. Most of the houses in Lahan were made from rough-hewn stone, with thatched roofs, including this one. Voices drifted down to him as he ascended the stairs. He could immediately recognize the brawny voice of Timothy, another one of his close friends, and Chief Lee.

Reaching the top, Sean saw Timothy with his father talking with Chief Lee. Timothy Higgins was a muscular guy who had thick black hair set in a buzz cut. He had worked the fields with his father most of life, and was used to tough physical labor. Chief Lee on the other hand, was bent slightly over due to a lifetime of hard work, and most of his hair was gone. What was left, some on the side, and his moustache, was white. His eyesight was getting worse but he was still more than capable of running the village.

Seeing Sean at the top of the stairs, Timothy waved him over, smiling. "Yo Sean! What's up? Hey, uh, sorry for us having to use your house like this, but I've got to work out the final details of tomorrow's wedding ceremony" he explained as Sean trotted over.

"It's okay Timothy" Sean said in a happy voice. "You're wedding with Alice, that's an event that we're ALL looking forward to, bar none. Just do what you got to do." Timothy smiled at this. He had always liked Sean for his easy going nature.

"Hey uh, I don't, well, I really shouldn't ask you this" Timothy pulled Sean aside from his father and Chief Lee. "Could…could you go see Alice for me? Just see how she's doing, that's all. Tradition says I can't see her till the ceremony, so I just want someone there with her and all, you know." Sean nodded his head.

"It's alright Timothy. I understand what you mean. I'll be happy to." Timothy sighed in relief.

"Thanks man, you're a true friend." Timothy clapped Sean on the back.

"Hey Timothy, about that, I just…..want to say thanks, you know, for always being there and supporting me. I mean, I can't remember anything up to 3 years ago, so it's been rough, but…..I've been forming a new life here, with you, Alice, Ran…" the words just came out. Sean hadn't intended for that to happen, but it just did. Timothy looked at the floor, then back at Sean.

"I know, he was a real pal. Can't imagine why he'd just leave us here and become the Chancellor of our kingdom. He said he wanted to become the next King….but that obviously didn't happen with Shakhan's revolt and all. Hey, I'm sure you'll see him again." Timothy smiled, but it was only a hopeful smile.

"Yeah….hey, thanks again Timothy. Well, better get going, oh, I'm so looking forward to the wedding tomorrow." Sean said, his smile coming back. Timothy gave off a short laugh.

"Well, get goin then. Don't want to keep you from this wonderful weather. I still have some things to talk about with the Chief, so I'll catch up, later man!" Shoving him towards the door, Timothy went back over to his father and the Chief.

Taking one last look, Sean opened the door and went outside into the pleasant sun. The smell of fresh spring was everywhere, and there were children running to and fro playing on the hill in the center of the town. Lahan was built in a circle, it's buildings surrounding the central hill. The windmill was off to his right, next to Alice's house. Figuring he'd head over, Sean walked past the various market stands and carts. The day simply couldn't compare. It was the best he'd seen in a long time. Two children rolled down the hill like logs past him. Chuckling, he continued on to Alice's house. It was good thing he wasn't wearing his trench coat, he thought to himself, he'd be baking in it by now. Alice's aunt was outside, sitting on the front stoop.

"Why hello there Sean! Wonderful day isn't it?" Alice's aunt was a plump woman, who always seemed to have a smile on her face.

"Yes it is. Say Mrs. Rawlins, do you think it would be alright if I visited Alice for a few minutes?"

"Well, I'm not supposed to let men in to see her the day before her wedding, but on this I'll make an exception, just for you. Go ahead Sean, you weren't born here anyways, so tradition doesn't really apply to you." She winked as she got off the stoop.

"Thanks" Sean gave her a friendly smile and entered the house.

"Hey, Sean! There you are!" the familiar high pitched voice of Alice's younger brother Dan filled his ears. Dan came charging in from the kitchen. Dan was one of Sean's students in martial arts and sword fighting, and had a hyperactive personality that could drive one up the wall if they weren't used to it. He had a blaze of red hair that seemed to go all over the place on his head. "Sean, I've got something VERY important to discuss with you." Shaking his head, Sean leaned down to Dan's face.

"Yeah Dan? What is it?" Dan cleared his throat before beginning.

"Ahem, as you know, tomorrow is my sister Alice's wedding. Well, to be quite frank and to the point, I've always wanted you rather than Timothy as a bigger brother. So……that's why you have to steal Alice and run off! I'm sure she'd like that too. I mean, I could secure our escape route and…" Sean cut Dan off.

"Oh come on Dan! I'm Timothy's friend, I wouldn't do that, and besides, I'm not from this village, you know very well that I can't wed anyone from here. Now stop being silly."

"Well, fine, pfft friend of Timothy? Well if you change your mind, come see me, I've got it all planned out." Dan winked at him, then took off for the kitchen again.

"That kid" Sean shook his head again and went up the stairs to Alice's room. Pausing at the door, he took a breath and knocked. He heard a light "Come in!" and so he entered. Alice was on the far side of the room, working on her wedding dress. She had long black hair that fell to her shoulders, and was a bit frail looking. She turned from her dress suddenly, seemingly startled at seeing Sean in her room.

"Oh! Sean, it's you, I….I didn't know you were here." Her voice was light.

"Well, Timothy asked me to come. How are you Alice?" Sean asked, looking down at the floor.

"Oh, quite well thank you. How do you like my dress? I made it myself and I'm nearly done." Alice stepped aside so Sean could fully see it. Sean was quite impressed. The thing was a real work of art. Flowing white satin with rings of rich blue, gold and deep red at the bottom.

"That's great Alice. It'll look really good on you" Sean said, rather uneasily.

"Thank you Sean, you're too kind. Oh, that reminds me, I sent Dan to go get some camera equipment for the wedding tomorrow from Dr. Uzuki, but….from the loud footsteps I hear downstairs, he obviously forgot. Do…..do you think…no, never mind, I couldn't possibly ask." She trailed off.

"Nah, don't worry about it. Plus if I head there, I can eat dinner. Yui's cooking is the best! I'll get the camera stuff for you." Sean said, starting for the door.

"Oh Sean wait!" Alice called. Sean stopped and turned around. "You know, if….if you had only been born in this village, then….." Sean looked away from Alice.

"Yeah well, I'd better go get your stuff." He said as he left the room quickly, before Alice had a chance to reply. It was true, he liked Alice a lot, but he knew that village tradition would prevent anything from ever happening between the two of them, so he had just come to accept it. Leaving the house, he went back to his own to get his coat and sword, not knowing whether or not he'd need them, but he was planning to stay at the Uzuki's till after dark, and the mountain path could sometimes be dangerous at that time. Grabbing his things, he set off up the mountain path that would take him to Dr. Uzuki's house.


	3. Chapter 2: The Valley Where Wind Is Born

**CB Notes: Alright, a little late with the notes but here they are. We've been introduced to Sean and some of the villagers. This story has some different elements from the game. In this chapter, we meet the Uzukis and also see the beginnings of an important event. The music box is also important.**

Chapter 2: The Valley Where Wind Is Born

As Sean walked up the mountain path, many miles to the north, a quite different scene was unfolding. Hundreds of miles away, at a secret Kislev military base, the sounds of rapid gunfire broke the still air.

"Don't let em get away!" a Kislev soldier shouted, firing his assault rifle at the Gebler soldier that was climbing up the ladder towards the cockpit of their new experimental model Gear. His troops were pouring fire on the team of Gebler raiders that had infiltrated the factory, but were interrupted by a large thud behind them as the ground shook. The soldier and his squad wheeled around, and were staring at a particularly large Gebler assault Gear. Big and bulky with a VERY large rifle, the soldier's mouth quivered. "Oh shit!" was all he could get out before the ground exploded in front of him. The Gear's rifle fired at the ground in front of the soldiers, throwing them all into the air.

"Go! Go!" a female voice called from inside the cockpit, once she saw that her comrade was inside the new Gear. Her comrade nodded at her, then closed the cockpit and revved up the engines. With a lurch the new Gear took off from the base and the rest of the Gebler Gears quickly launched as well, heading south for the border.

"You won't get away" the Kislev soldier raised his head from the ground. "Support team…..launch the pursuit Gears. We….have….to get…..that Gear back..." were his last words as his head collapsed back on the ground. It took the pursuit forces only 7 minutes to scramble their Gears and get them airborne after the Gebler raiders. The Kislev Empire had suffered too much defeat in this war at the hands of the Gebler force and Aveh. They WOULD NOT allow their new prototype Gear to be stolen!

Sean finally reached the top of the mountain as dusk was drawing on. Dr. Citan Uzuki's house was a very disheveled looking building. It looked sort of like a tower that had been twisted many different ways. On the top was a giant telescope used for observing the celestial bodies. Sean had always liked to muse that the house had been built to reflect the Doc's personality. The Doctor himself could use Wind magic, or Ether, as it was called, and was quite a skilled physician, always being called on to cure any maladies that Lahan had. He had built his home up here however because he claimed he liked the solitude and quiet. Claimed it helped his thoughts flow better.

Stepping up to the front door, Sean knocked twice. A shuffle from inside and the door opened, revealing Yui, the Doc's wife. Dressed in a long flowing olive green colored dress with long, smooth blond hair, Yui and the Doc had been married for close to 10 years now, and had an 8 year old daughter named Midori, though she didn't talk much around strangers, which included Sean, though he figured he had been up here enough times that Midori would've gotten comfortable around him, but she hadn't.

"Hello Sean" Yui spoke with a very calm, very even tone. Sean smiled.

"Hi Yui. Hey, is the Doc around?"

"Yes, he's out back tinkering with more of his junk." Yui rolled her eyes. "If you like, you could stay for dinner. I know how much you like my cooking." Sean's eyes lit up at this.

"Oh, would I ever! Thank you very much Yui."

"Sure thing, I'll get it started. Make yourself at home." With that, Yui went back inside, though Sean didn't follow. He wandered over to the backyard, looking out over the impressive view from the top of the mountain as he did so. Splashes of purple and orange from the setting sun fell over a magnificent vista. Sean had always wanted to paint up here, but had never gotten around to it. Heading towards the shed, he noticed a very odd….something parked over it. This thing had four long legs connected to a central, orange colored disk. Sean wasn't sure what it was, as he had never seen anything like it before.   
Before he could study it further, an explosion rocked the ground. Glancing frantically around Sean called out, "Doc?" Loud coughing was his response as the Doc emerged from the top of the orange disk.

"Oh, this won't do! Why do they use such inferior parts for this….oh, hello Sean! Didn't notice you there!" The Doc spoke with a light, bouncy tone, it was, Sean liked to tell himself, the voice of an intellectual. The Doc had long jet black hair tied in a ponytail and wore wire frame glasses over his green eyes. A short little nose and firm chin made up the rest of the Doc's countenance. "Hey uh, give me a few minutes, I just have finish with this Land Crab here, it's a kind of military tank that I found abandoned at an excavation site and, oh, I'm rambling again, sorry. Look, head inside the shed, there's something in there you should see. I'll join you in a minute." The Doc called down from the top of the Land Crab. Nodding, Sean went into the shed.

It smelled musty and was quite dank inside. Doc used it mostly to store his tools, but something different stuck out from the hodgepodge of junk scattered around. At the far end of the small shed was a large red box. Walking over to it, Sean eyes swept across its mirror like surface. He could see his face reflected on the box. He reached his hand out, moving it slowly over the surface. It was about as big as a normal sized crate. His hand suddenly depressed and he realized he had pushed a button on the side of the box, The box whirred, then all 4 sides dropped down, Sean moving out of the way as they fell. A bronze statue was inside, a statue of some sort of goddess, Sean thought, as it started twirling. The box began to play a tune, and Sean realized it was a music box.

As he listened to the tynes being plucked, a sense of calm and well-being washed over him. He thought he had heard this tune somewhere before, but he couldn't place it. He gazed intently at the box, trying to remember something that was locked deep inside him.

"Ah, I see you've found it." The Doc said as he came in, dusting his green outfit off. "They really don't make those things like they used to." He said as he came over to Sean. Sean was still staring at it.

"Doc" he said. "I….I feel like I know this tune."

"Really? I found this at the same site that I found that Land Crab. You know, music is a funny thing." The Doc spoke in a far off voice. "It can make us feel sad, angry, happy, and sometimes…..music can trigger memories that we thought we had forgotten. Music has strong associations with how our brain works but, oh, I'm talking too much again. Why not come inside, it's nearly dark. I'm sure Yui has already offered to cook for you." As the Doc spoke, the tune came to an end, the windup mechanism having reached it's stopping point. Sean blinked.

"Right, she has. Coming Doc?" Sean asked when the Doc didn't move from his spot.

"Yes, yes, but I'd like to fix one of the gyros inside this box first, it could break if its not reset." Sean nodded and left the shed, knowing that Doc would be along in a minute. After Sean had left, Doc thought to himself, his thoughts coming out in speech.

"Odd, a tune he's heard before? Hmm, I thought for certain he was on the verge of remembering something." As he spoke, the box shook, stopped, then shattered into pieces. The Doc glanced at it with a dazed expression. "What the? What could've…..is…is this an omen I wonder? What's going to happen?" the Doc said as he stared at the broken pieces on the ground.

A few miles to the north, just over the border, the Kislev pursuit Gears were gaining on the fleeing Gebler squad. Explosions tore the air around the Gebler Gears as they neared the border. Inside the cockpit of the lead Gear, Lieutenant Elehaym Van Houten brushed her red hair out of her eyes and wondered if this mission would succeed. They were so close and yet……

A loud explosion ripped into one of her unit's Gears, sending it crashing in flames to the ground.

"Dammit!" she cursed as some debris from her comrade's Gear smashed into the back of hers.

"Lieutenant!" cried the pilot in the Gear they had stolen. "You're hit!"

"Don't worry about it! Just keep going without me! That Gear is our top concern anyways, we have to get it to the Blackmoon Base!" she yelled into her com as her Gear started losing power.

"Not a chance. We could land and fight them off! It's all mountains up here, but up ahead is a clearing where we could safely land. My scanners say there's a village nearby, but they'll just have to live with it. We're the ones who decide their fates anyways!" the pilot called out. Lieutenant Van Houten thought a moment, considering the consequences. There wasn't much choice with her Gear losing power as it was.

"All right." She said, making her decision. "We'll land in the clearing and attempt to fight them off."

"Yes ma'am!" the pilot barked, the and squad of 3 remaining Gears prepared to come in for an emergency landing.


	4. Chapter 3: The Steel Giant

**CB Notes: Tragedy strikes in this chapter, though it may seem a bit archetypal when it comes to an RPG hero. One of my friends jokingly mentioned that there's almost a type of checklist you can have when going through an RPG about what happens to the hero. Though that's one of the things I loved about Xenogears, after a comman enough start……it takes a wild turn and just keeps going down that new path. **

Chapter 3: The Steel Giant

The night was cold, but not to the point of being unpleasant. Donning his dark trench coat, Sean stepped out of the Doc's house content.

"Mmm! Once again, Yui does not fail to please" he exclaimed as the Doc and his family followed him out.

"Hah hah" Yui half laughed jokingly. "Glad you enjoyed it sir. I'm always happy to have someone who appreciates my cooking."

"Really, it was quite delicious." Sean stole a glance at Midori, her golden locks hanging down the side of her head. She hadn't spoken a word to him as usual, but Sean really didn't mind. "Your hospitality overwhelms me Doc. Thank you yet again."

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine. Say, about that camera equipment you need, well, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with you carrying such delicate things down the mountain. Not saying anything about your character of course, but don't worry. My family will be there tomorrow and I'll have the equipment you need. Good night Sean." Doc Uzuki smiled at him.

"All right, good night everyone." Sean said. Yui said her goodbyes and took Midori inside, but the Doc stopped at the door and turned back.

"Sean!" he called out to him as he began his trek down the path. Sean turned around. "Be very cautious….I mean," the Doc stopped himself. "What I mean is….the uh, the path, it can be dangerous at night. Just be careful." Sean thought it strange the Doc was telling him this, he had traveled this path countless times before and the Doc never seemed concerned.

"Uh, sure thing." Sean said uncertainly. He waved and continued off down the mountain. The darkness closed in on him as he made his way down the path, some crickets chirping in the bushes. What was the Doc worried about? Sure there were some monsters who lived up here, but it really wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He had killed some in the past with hardly any effort at all. Sure there were some crevices that you might slip and fall into, but Sean knew the location of each and every one, its not like he was a total stranger walking this mountain. Heck, he and Ran had…..Ran. The thought of his good friend came back to him again. They had trained all over this mountain. Ran had showed him every path and crevice, every ledge and every cliff.

Sean's thoughts were broken by a great rushing noise coming from the sky, and he looked up in time to see 3 giant Gears wheel overhead, closely followed by 5 different looking ones. "What the…..Gears?" He said to himself. He had never seen a Gear up close before, but he was sure that that was what he had just seen. As they went out of sight up ahead, he heard loud explosions rock the valley. "Oh no! The village!" he cried and started running before he heard a loud "SEAN!" from behind him. His head snapped around and he saw the Doc dashing towards him.

"Did you just see that?" asked the Doc, struggling to catch his breath.

"Yeah…those were Gears right?" Sean asked.

"No time! I'll explain on the way, we have to get to the village!" cried the Doc as he took off at a run. Sean immediately followed behind him. "Judging by their appearance, they appear to be from our neighbor country of Kislev. The ones in front appear to be…well, never mind, let's just go!" The sound of explosions and gunfire grew louder as they approached the village, and soon, a red glow was quite visible. As they came to a slight rise on the outskirts of Lahan, Sean stopped dead in his tracks.

The two groups of Gears appeared to be battling each other. The group of five definitely seemed to have the upper hand, as it appeared that one of the three other Gears wasn't functional. The 2nd of the group of three was gunned down, and unfortunately the explosion from it caused several buildings to catch fire. Villagers were running everywhere, trying desperately to get away from the battle. Some stray bullets were also impacting on buildings, and everywhere there was chaos. The bullets were about the size of cars, and they were doing tremendous damage to the houses.

"Sean! Doc!" called Timothy as he raced towards them, dragging Alice behind him. "Goddamn it Doc! What the hell's goin on? Why are they battling right here in our village?" Alice looked immensely worried and cut Doc off before he could speak.

"Sean!" She ran up to him. "Sean! Dan is missing! He wasn't at the house and I have no idea where he is!" Timothy broke in.

"Look Alice, let me look for him I.." Doc cut Timothy off.

"No Timothy! You protect Alice. Sean and I will look for Dan and help with the rest of the evacuation! Where's Chief Lee?"

"He's started leading a group of villagers away up the mountain, but he's still close enough that something could happen." Timothy quickly explained.

"All right, I want you two to get away from here, meet up with the rest and rendezvous a little up the path. Leave the rest to Sean and myself." Doc spoke calmly, taking control of the situation. Sean nodded at Alice.

"Don't worry. I'll find your brother, and I'll get him out of here. Trust me."

"Thank you Sean. Good luck!" Alice called as she and Timothy took off up the path. Doc turned to Sean.

"Come on Sean, let's go!"

"Right" he said in agreement, and they both headed into the village. Sean stopped short as he watched the dark blue Gear, the only one remaining in its group, charge at the five attacking Gears. With a well directed punch it bashed the head off of the first Gear, then kicked another one to the ground, bringing its giant foot down on top of the Gear, smashing a hole through its center. Sean then watched as the skilled pilot turned his Gear on the remaining three grey Gears. The closest one fired but was too slow as the blue Gear dodged to the left, smashing the General Store in the process, and leapt up, bringing its hands together and smashing the cockpit of the Gear that had fired. Unfortunately as the pilot turned his Gear to attack the last two, one of them rammed the cockpit with the butt of his rifle. The blue Gear recoiled and was sent sailing right towards Sean.

Sean leapt to the side as the Gear came to rest right he had been standing only moments before. As he got up, trying to recover his breath, the cockpit of the blue Gear opened and the pilot fell out on the ground, thick red blood covering his body. Sean could see he was dressed in some kind of white uniform. Glancing quickly at the remaining two Gears, he raced over to the pilot as the two Gears advanced on him. The pilot was dead when Sean got there though, but his gaze came to rest on the empty cockpit. He felt drawn to it, he wasn't sure why, but as the orange and red flames leapt off the buildings around him, a strange thought entered his mind. Perhaps he could pilot this thing and get rid of those attacking Gears. Slowly, as if in a trance, he walked up to the cockpit and got in.

Doc Uzuki was nearby when he saw Sean climb into the cockpit and bring the Gear back to its feet. "Oh my god Sean, what are you doing? STOP!" Doc ran towards the Gear Sean was in. "DO YOU HEAR ME SEAN! FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP! YOU MUST NOT FIGHT HERE! SEAN! This is terrible! If HE awakens here, then……" Doc's thoughts were interrupted when he heard Dan calling his name. Whirling around, he saw Dan running towards him through the blazing fire, carrying his sister's wedding dress. "My god Dan! Where have you been? We were looking everywhere for you!" Dan came to a halt in front of the Doc.

"Sorry Doc, but I went back to get my sister's wedding dress. She made it herself and I couldn't bear to let it burn up." Doc couldn't help but chuckle.

"You, hehehe, came back to get the wedding dress? Oh Dan, you're such a sentimental boy. But we must get out of here! Sean will buy us some time so let's go!"

"Wait!" Dan cried. "Sean's…..in that monster?" He said pointing up at the blue Gear.

"Dan, Sean is bound by cruel fate. The best we can do is hope he'll be victorious, now please, come on!" Doc yanked Dan's arm, dragging him towards the path that led up the mountain.

A strange language came out of the Gear's computer once Sean got it on its feet. He couldn't understand the words, but then, the computer switched into his common tongue.

"New pilot accepted. Status: Lamb. Configuring controls for pilot's skill level." It was unbelievable, Sean had never done something like this, and yet, he felt a rush, a surge of power in him. This machine was amazing! It was like it had been specially designed for him. Every stick, every button, every pedal, every knob, it was right where he was comfortable with. "Warning! Hostile Gears approaching!" the computer called out in an emotionless tone. Glancing up at the two Gears coming at him, Sean cracked his knuckles and laid his hands on the two control sticks.

"Okay, let's see what you're made of" he said as he started moving the Gear at a brisk pace.

"Power down at once, and you will not be harmed!" came the voice of one of the pilots.

"Not a chance you bastards! You think I'd let you get away with what you did here? Not likely! Let's see…" Sean decided to try some basic moves. Leaping up in the air, the Gear brought its foot down on one of the grey Gears, smashing in its head and cockpit. "Now that's what I call a contact sport!" Sean shouted as he turned to face the remaining Gear. The Gear raised its rifle to fire. "I don't think so!" Sean exclaimed as he performed a palm strike on the Gear's chest, causing it stagger back and fire into the air.

Sean next brought the Gear's right hand down in a side chop to the neck, then a knee to the center, and punch to the face. An uppercut was the finishing touch in Sean's attack as the grey Gear began twitching madly, like some rabid animal, throwing off sparks and finally collapsing on the ground.

"Phew, can't believe I actually beat those guys, I've never even piloted one of these things before. But it just felt so natural, like I knew what I was doing." No sooner had Sean spoken when four more Gears, this time different looking ones that were colored white and carrying longer assault rifles, landed in front of him.

"More of you losers eh? Well then, that's just fine with……" Sean trailed off as a sinister looked black Gear dropped slowly down from the sky. It looked similar to his, except it had what looked like folded bat wings on it. The flames reflected off the oily looking metal, creating an evil look to the Gear. It landed with barely a puff of dust, and then made an upward motion with its hand. Before Sean could react, two of the white Gears moved forward at incredible speed, and grabbed onto his Gear's arms, effectively restraining him.

"What the hell? Get offa me!" Sean yelled, though wasn't sure quite what to do. They forcefully turned him around so that he was looking at the mountain path. He saw Timothy running down it, shouting something, waving at him in the cockpit. "Timothy, what's he doing back here? Oh no." he said as he saw Alice following some distance behind Timothy. One of the other white Gears raised its assault rifle, Realizing what was about to happen, Sean immediately struggled, pushing every control he could, trying desperately to break free, a sick feeling rising in his stomach.

"You bastards! Don't do this! You can't! Let me go damn you! LET ME GO!" His Gear's servos and joints whined, but try as he might, he couldn't break the hold they had on him. The black Gear flicked its hand, the white Gear opened fire, bullets slicing into Timothy. Blood gushed out from his mouth like a macabre fountain, and he fell backwards on the ground. "NOOOO! TIMOTHY! I…..I CAN'T BELIEVE…..URRRGHHH!" Sean let out a cry and suddenly, a deep feeling of helplessness coming over him. He felt like he was going to be sick but then, he felt a strange sensation washing over him, and before he knew what was happening, he fell into a dark sleep. Sean, but at the same time not Sean lifted his head, grinned, and let loose a mighty shockwave of energy from the Gear, annihilating the white Gears and everything in the village. The black Gear quickly rose into the sky and avoided the powerful attack. A large explosion engulfed Lahan, blowing away the stone houses as if they were made of nothing but wax and paper. The explosion spread, advancing towards Alice. She cried out, raising her hands futilely in front of her as the explosion overtook her, wiping her from existence.

"ALIIIIIIIIICE!" Dan cried as he watched the village, his sister, Chief Lee, and the rest of the stragglers all get blown into a terrible oblivion.


	5. Chapter 4: Forest of the Blackmoon

**CB Notes: Blackmoon Forest! Oooo! Spooky! Heh, nah, there are some dangers that lurk in the forest, though its unique name is derived from the way the moon looks when viewed from a certain spot of the woods. Sean is off to Bledavik, the capital of Aveh, to attempt to seek help from an old friend. But first, he must pass through…..Blackmoon Forest. Randall also makes his first appearance in this chapter, and Sean has a rather eerie dream. Is it about his mysterious past? Or merely something hodgepodge? **

**Also, I'll address my reviewers. Thank you, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Heh, yes, the chapter with the Eldridge is quite hard to write, since it happens so fast and doesn't give much description at all. Sean is using a sword as per my co-writer's wishes, plus I personally think it's going to make some very cool scenes with Ramsus. However, thank you very much for the reviews, and I hope you keep reading. **

Chapter 4: Forest of the Blackmoon

A murky veil of inky blackness was lifted from Sean's vision as his eyes slowly opened. The first thing he saw were scores of unpleasant faces, all glaring at him. Some were scowling, and some looked downright angry. They were all murmuring, creating an uneasy hum. Sean could only pick up bits and pieces of what was being said.

"Told you it was a mistake to let outsiders…….." "What on earth was he thinking getting into that…." "Gear killed everyone, that…" "murderer I'm telling ya, it was all…"

"Sean?" the voice came from Doc, who was standing nearby. Sean turned his head slowly to face the Doc. Behind the Doc stood the blue Gear he had piloted. A sick feeling came on him as his gaze swept over it. "Sean, are you alright?" asked Doc gently.

"I….Doc, what happened? Where's the village? Where are we for that matter?" the questions came out slowly.

"Sean, the Gear…went out of control. I'm afraid that Timothy, Alice, Chief Lee, and a few other, are….now dead." Alarm came into Sean's eyes as he heard all this. "We're on the mountain path that leads to my home. I'm planning on taking the villagers someplace safe until we can.."

"Murderer!" cut Doc off before he could finish. Sean looked slowly, grimacing as he recognized the voice. The crowd of survivors had parted, revealing Dan in their midst. A look of rage and betrayal was in his eyes. "Sean! Why did you have to get in that Gear! Because you my sister….GIVE ME BACK MY SISTER!" Sean took a step back, shaking his head as the crowd went back to their whispers and murmurs, their acid stares still upon him. "You're a murderer Sean! People died because of you!" Dan yelled.

"Dan! You know very well Sean had no control over the Gear once it went haywire! Blaming him unfairly for something he could not control is wrong, and you know it." Doc explained firmly.

"I know that but…but….but….I HATE YOU SEAN!" was all Dan could get out before he ran off, back into the crowd. Sean felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't understand it. He couldn't remember a single thing about what happened. The last thing he recalled was Timothy being gunned down in front of him. He turned desperately to Doc, wondering if he had any answers.

"Doc, what….what…" Sean couldn't find the words, as tears welled up in his eyes. But he refused to cry, not in front of these people.

"Well, they'll obviously try to rebuild Lahan, but….the atmosphere around here might not be very….pleasant if you stay. On top of that, these people need to be moved to a place of safety before either Kislev or Aveh come looking for this Gear. I'm afraid that those Kislev soldiers were after this Gear last night, and hence, if you stayed, they might wish to come after you but…..I know!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Why don't you head to Bledavik, the capita, to get help from Chancellor Boggs, you're old friend. I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you out, he could provide you with refuge from the Kislev Empire. There's no safer place than Bledavik." Sean's eyes took on a gleam at the mention of his old friend Randall.

"But…how…do I get there?" he asked, not entirely sure of the way.

"Oh, it's simple, enter the Blackmoon Forest, follow the path to the west, once you come out, you'll be near a town called Dazil. You can ask for directions from there." Doc explained. Sean wasn't sure, of course he wanted to see Ran again, but…all these people. He wanted to help, but the Doc had a point. If he stayed, it would only cause more trouble.

"Doc, I….thanks. I hope I'll see you again."

"Don't worry Sean, I'll take care of everyone here. Trust me. Good luck." He said. Taking one last look at everyone around him, their gazes still hostile, he glanced at the Gear. That horrid contraption that had caused all of this. A seething anger boiled in him as he looked at it. Finally, without a glance backwards, Sean leapt off a ledge, down onto the path, and started on his way for the Blackmoon Forest.

The thoughts of what had transpired over the past few hours weighed heavily on Sean's mind as he stared at the entrance of Blackmoon Forest. The trees loomed tall and forbidding, not the least bit inviting at all. As he entered, some small birds scattered at his approach, building on his feeling of isolation. Trying to keep his thoughts on Randall, he pressed on further into the dark woods.

Many miles to the west, at the Royal capital Bledavik, Prime Minister Shakhan and Chancellor Randall Boggs walked down a lavishly decorated corridor. The Prime Minister was resplendent looking in his crimson and royal blue robes, while the Chancellor eschewed any type of clothing, preferring his scales. Shakhan was nearly as tall as Randall, which would make him about 6 feet. Bald with a straight, serious face and thin black moustache, Shakhan turned towards his Chancellor.

"Have you heard the news Mr. Boggs? The Gebler attempt to steal the new model Gear has failed." Shakhan spoke with extreme distaste in his voice. "I also heard one of our villages was completely destroyed in a scuffle that broke out between our forces and the pursuing Kislev ones. I hear the village's name was Lahan." Randall's eyes darted to his left, coming to fix on Shakhan.

"What? Did you say Lahan?" Shakhan thought he detected worry in his Chancellor's voice.

"Yes, I did, what's it to you?" he asked, fixing him with a suspicious gaze. Randall thought a moment, his eyes watching his feet as he walked.

"Nothing, it means nothing to me." He said, avoiding the subject. Shakhan narrowed his gaze.

"I see. I've dispatched General Kahran Ramsus, the head of Gebler, to personally wipe out any investigative units that Kislev may send. Kaiser Sigmund is becoming much more shrewd. General Ramsus is just the person we need to check his movements and keep them in check. Oh, I also heard something else, from Grahf." Randall's eyes swiveled back to Shakhan again.

"Grahf? What's HE want?" asked Randall, a foul tone in his voice.

"He told me that a certain Sean Athanasios, apparently a local from Lahan, is in possession of the Gear we're after. He says if we want it, we'll have to find this Athanasios." Randall's eyes widened at the name.

"Sean….I mean uh, Sean Athanasios you say? Are you sure?" Randall's voice rose considerably.

"Yes" Shakhan narrowed his eyes again. "Grahf is hardly ever wrong about these things after all." A thought crossed Randall's mind.

"Sir, let me handle the investigation! I'll find Sea…this Athanasios guy. Please, let me take care of this one." Shakhan thought intently as they reached the Prime Minister's chambers.

"Hmm, very well Mr. Boggs. You may handle it. However, you are NOT to interfere with General Ramsus's mission, is that understood?" His eyes bore into Randall's.

"Yes sir, perfectly well sir. Oh, one more thing sir. Is it really an Omnigear? I mean, I can't imagine the Kislev Empire actually designing such a thing after all."

"Grahf assured me it was. He said there was no mistaking it." Shakhan said.

"But sir, Can we really trust Grahf? I mean, that beast doesn't even seem human, I for one think.."

"That is enough Mr. Boggs. Grahf has already proven his trustworthiness. I don't need to discuss this with you further, oh and please, do something about your official robes! You should be wearing them, not traipsing around like a wild beast!" Shakhan growled as the door to his chambers closed in Randall's face.

"Ana haus!" the shrill voice stopped Sean dead in his tracks. He turned slowly around, seeing a woman wearing the same white uniform he had noticed on the dead pilot. Red hair swept down past her shoulders, but the most striking thing was that she was pointing a pistol at his head. "Kah te nye? Ta, tah dyne tuna ack va! Dah noul raun tak! Rahna koute! Uh…" she continued in her strange language, finally stopping and looking as puzzled as he was sure he looked. "Uh, throw down your weapon, turn around!" she ordered, finally speaking in his own tongue. Sean was still just as puzzled as he had been when she first started talking.

"But…..I'm…not holding a weapon." He said.

"Ehhh, quiet, make one wrong move and I'll shoot! You don't seem like a Kislev soldier, but still…" she continued. Sean noticed her hands shaking as she held the gun at him.

"Your hands are shaking" Sean said, gaining of bit of confidence. He took a step towards her. A shot rang out from the pistol, the bullet hitting the ground about a half a foot from his left foot. "What are you aiming at? If you're going to shoot me, then shoot me." He said, moving forward again.

"Stay, stay back!" she shouted, bringing the gun back up to his head. "You do realize that I have orders to kill all Lambs I come across, which includes you. But…do you know how to get out of this forest?" she asked suddenly. The question caught Sean a little off guard, but he realized what was going on.

"Heh, you're lost, just like me. See, I'm trying to get out of here too. But go ahead, shoot me. Come on, you have orders right? Well, then, shoot me. Or can you not do it?" he asked, coming closer, a smile beginning to form on his face. "I'm a worthless guy anyways. I certainly wouldn't be missed."

"What…what are you saying? You WANT me to shoot you? What a thing to say!" Sean looked at the ground now.

"Well, it's like I said, I deserve to be shot. After what I did…" the confident air was out of his voice. The woman backed up, her gun still trained. As she took another step back, a forest monster came leaping down from the trees, landing right behind her. It waved it's ugly green arms in anger, it resembled some sort of elf perhaps, though it had bluish-green skin and menacing jaws. The woman whirled around.

"What the…" was all she could say before the thing knocked her to the ground. Sean immediately came to life.

"Hey, get your hands off of Elly!" he shouted, not realizing he had just said her name. A flash of green as Sean drew his sword and in less than 3 seconds, the thing's head was rolling across the forest floor. "Damn, doesn't she know that loud noises upset these things?" He looked down at her. She appeared to be unconscious. Shrugging, he sheathed his sword and started gathering wood for a fire.

"Glad to see you've rejoined the living." Sean said as the woman came to. Looking around, she saw that night had fallen, and the guy had built a steady fire. "You know, shooting that gun was a mistake. It pisses the creatures off who live in these woods." She came up to sitting, and looked down at the ground. "All right, don't talk to me, but now that we're here, we may as well know each other's names right? I'm Sean Athanasios. You can call me Sean. And you?" He asked, throwing another stick into the fire.

"I…won't give my name to a Lamb." She replied.

"Okay fine, but it wouldn't kill you to thank me for saving your life." He said, a little more sharply this time. She looked at him, then looked back down at the ground again, listening to crackle of popping of the fire.

"Th…thank you. You realize this changes nothing though." She sighed. "Fine, it's Elehaym, but my friends call me Elly."

"Yeah, somehow, I just that" Sean said it as if it was nothing at all. He glanced up at the moon. It appeared quite black, but still visible, a natural phenomena of this particular forest.

"You knew? But how…" she trailed off. This was one strange guy, she'd admit. Sean shrugged.

"Don't ask me. The last two days have been crazy, that's all I'll say. Well, it's too dangerous to travel at night. Wander off if you want, but do it at your own risk." Said Sean as he lay down on the ground, shutting his eyes. "Oh, and don't fire your gun again." He added as an afterthought. She could hardly believe this guy, what was he about anyways? He seemed disappointed that she hadn't shot him before. What a curious Lamb, she thought to herself, as too lay down and closed her eyes.

Sean was in a desert, a lot younger. He wasn't sure what was going on. The heat was intense, heat waves being easily visible. Off in the distance, he could see 12 men, all robed in brown, walking away from him. Getting up, he began racing after them, trying desperately to catch up.

"Stop! Don't leave me! Wait!" he called after them as they continued to move on, not seeming to hear him. The closer he thought he should be getting, the further away they actually seemed to be. The 12 came upon a single man, clad in brilliant gold robes. This man seemed to look at Sean. He had blond hair and a smooth complexion.

"The unbelievers were cast out, into a lake of fire! Those who had true faith were saved," he spoke in a strong, commanding voice. As he spoke, the man lifted his hand, palm out, aiming it directly at Sean. "Those who survived the apocalypse, woe be unto them, for they had to wander aimlessly for many night and many a day, finding no refuge, no sustenance." The 12 men turned towards him, shaking their heads and murmuring. He was quite surprised to see familiar faces among them, including Randall, a blue dragon type face that he couldn't quite place, and of all people, himself. All of them looked at him with sad, cold eyes. They turned back towards the blond haired man, and lifted up what appeared to be a platform he had been standing on. They began to walk off again, but in his direction. As they approached, the blond man signaled a halt.

"Poor, poor child." He said, shaking his head and looking down at Sean from his platform. "He is not yet ready to take his place among our glorious new nation. He must continue wandering until fate decides the time is right." With a wave of his hand, the 12 carried him off. Sean raced after them, grabbing onto Randall's cloak.

"Randall! It's you! I thought I'd never see you again! What's going on? Where are we?" Randall turned his head down to Sean, fixing his green eyes on him as he continued walking. Sean smiled. "Randall, it IS you!" Sean embraced him, clinging to his robe.

"I am sorry child, I know no Randall. I am called Enoch you see. Please, let go of my robe. We must continue on, to Etrenank." Randall, but it wasn't Randall, spoke in Randall's exact voice. What was going on here? Sean felt hurt and confused. He didn't know what to do. He fell to his knees, letting Randall/Enoch's cloak slip from his grasp, watching the group depart. Tears started to fill his eyes.

"Awww, you must be lost." Sean was startled to hear Elly's voice. He raised his head, the burning sun in his eyes. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed like her, yes it was, leaning over him. She reached a hand for him, and the sun caught a gleaming golden cross with a red stone in its center that she had around her neck on a chain. "Come on, I'll take you home Sean." The word Sean kept repeating over and over again in his head in her voice, until he came awake again.

"Sean! Are you ready to go? You were talking in your sleep, woke me up. Its morning, come on, we should get moving." Sean looked around, dazed, not sure where he was. Right! The Blackmoon Forest. It was indeed morning, but no birds chirped in these woods.

"Yeah" he said, coming to his feet. She was already walking ahead of him on a barely visible path. What an odd dream, he thought to himself, completely unexpected. He felt almost as if it were a memory rather than a dream, but couldn't be quite sure. It had such a surreal feel to it after all. And Randall, what the heck was he doing? Wait, he said his name was Enoch. Enoch? What the hell? Realizing it would useless at this point to speculate, he took off down the path after Elly, wondering what this day would have in store for him.


	6. Chapter 5: Shattering Egg Dreams

**CB Notes: Once again readers, thank you for the reviews, I'll address your questions here. Regarding the Omnigear thing, if you recall in the game, Grahf had duped the Gazel Ministry into thinking that Weltall was an Omnigear, that way, they'd have more incentive to steal it. It's only natural that Shakhan would've believed this too. Thank you for the reviews, and I hope you keep reading. **

**In this chapter, Sean and Elly continue on into the forest, After a series of events, Sean gets Weltall back. Probably the most important event however, is the scene at the very end, when Sean notices the aerial battleship. The commander of that ship will later play a very important role in the story. **

Chapter 5: Shattering Egg Dreams

The shadows were heavy as the two progressed deeper into their forest. The trees were so thick and tall that a good portion of the daylight was simply blocked from reaching the forest floor. The primeval woods were incredibly ancient, and had probably been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

They came to an area where the main path was once again visible, and started off, following its westward direction. Neither of them spoke much, if at all during their trek, but once they reached the path, Elly suddenly stopped.

"What are you stopping for?" Sean asked, turning to go back to where she stood.

"Sean, yesterday you said you deserved to die. What did you mean by that?" she asked in a concerned voice. Sean looked away from her as he talked.

"I…did something terrible. My village was attacked by a group of Gears from the Kislev Empire. There was fire everywhere, and people were dying." As Sean explained, Elly's eyes widened slightly, but it wasn't too noticeable. She realized that this must've been the village she had been forced to land in. Her Gear had been so badly damaged that she had ditched it immediately after landing and had taken off on foot for this forest, hoping she'd be able to find the nearby base and get reinforcements. She continued to listen to Sean, curious as to what happened to the Gear they had been sent to steal.

"I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I had to help in some way, so….I climbed into a nearby Gear who's pilot had just been killed, and went to fight them off. I actually took out a few in the beginning too, but then, this new group showed up, and…..urrgh! You know, if only they hadn't of shown up, none of this woulda happened! Do you understand what I'm saying! I killed good friends of mine by accident, do you see these hands?" he shoved his hands towards her. "They're responsible for killing innocent people, and it's all Kislev's fault! If only they hadn't come! It was all them! Them! Them! Them!" each time Sean said "them" he slammed his clenched fist into a tree.

"It was all their fault?" she asked. "Let me tell you something Sean." She said, her voice rising. "You're a coward!"

"I'm a…coward?" he asked, not understanding.

"Yes, you're a coward. You can't blame it on the Kislev Empire. They were only after that Gear after all, had you simply not gotten in and tried to fight them off, they would've taken the Gear and left. But no! You had to climb in and play hero! What were you even thinking? Not just anyone can pilot those things you know, let alone a Lamb! They're aren't for rookies, they're for experienced pilots and soldiers! You can't blame anyone but yourself for this! It wasn't Kislev's fault! It was yours! You're a coward!" she yelled.

"That's right!" he yelled right back. "I'm a coward." He sneered. "But it still doesn't change anything." He said, tears wetting his eyes. "Those people are dead, and nothing can bring them back. Look, I don't…" without saying anything else, Sean sunk to the ground with his back to the tree, his head buried in his arms. Elly felt like saying something more, but realized she had said too much as it was. She turned and started walking down the path, her thoughts running wild. Sean, a coward? Way to go Elly, she thought to herself. You're the real coward after all. Not telling him that it was really your unit that had crash landed there in the first place, and did you even try to fight? No! Of course not! You got out of your Gear and ran, ran from the carnage and the slaughter. And what for? Because you didn't want to be responsible for k….killing again? Her thoughts went back to the day she had first been instructed to take Drive, and how she had gone completely out of control, killing five soldiers she had been assigned to spar with. She….never wanted anything like that to happen again. Yes, she was a coward, and the fact that she had blown up at Sean like that for no good reason was even worse.

She slowly stopped walking. Perhaps she should go back, apologize to him. As she started to turn around, a heavy thudding noise made her look around, her gaze sweeping the trees. Out of the nearby copse a big freakish lizard came stomping out. It was nearly 30 feet tall, with saliva dripping from its large mouth, a mouth that was filled with dirty yellow, and sharp, teeth. It gave a mighty roar and she screamed, backing away from it.

Sean heard the scream and he immediately raised himself to his feet. "Dammit!" he said, drawing his sword and racing off down the path. It didn't take him long at all to see what had caused Elly to scream. He saw her lying on the ground, she didn't appear to be hurt, and Sean speculated that she had fainted. A giant Rankar loomed over her. It was a little like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He immediately sprung into action. He charged at the beast as it let out a mighty roar. Easily dodging it as it snapped at him, he ran under its head and towards its legs. He knew this probably wouldn't work but….

He performed a charging slash on the area of its foot along its ankle. A slight graze appeared, but nothing more. The Rankar roared again, clearly angry at the unimpressive show of force. Sean knew this wasn't good. Rankar's had incredibly thick hides, and swords, even the kind he used, did next to nothing against them. He headed around to the front of the creature's view, trying to lead it away from Elly. He was startled when he heard a shrill "SEAN!" called out.

Looking around, and then up in the air, he saw the orange Land Crab that Doc had been working on soar into view above the treetops, it's propeller blades beating the air, its legs clutching onto the Gear he had been piloting earlier. He could barely see Doc waving to him from the top of the Crab. The Crab's legs parted, dropping the Gear to the ground in front of Sean.

"Sean, get in and fight that thing off!" cried Doc.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Remember what happened last time?" he called back. Doc shook his head.

"You really have no other options here Sean. That Gear is your best bet to defeating it!" The Rankar had apparently been slightly confused at what had happened, but it quickly recovered and started for Sean again. With a sick feeling, Sean knew Doc was right.

"Alright, but do me one favor Doc!" Sean called out. "If it looks like I'm about to go out of control again, then shoot me!"

"I hope that won't happen Sean!" Doc called down. Sean ran towards the cockpit and climbed in. An uneasy feeling washed over him as he sat in the familiar seat and swept his hands over the controls, bringing the Gear to life. The Rankar started charging him, it's giant feet stomping over the ground. He let it get close before he landed a punch right on it's jaw as its mouth opened for its attack. The beast's head recoiled violently under the blow, and before it could recover, Sean pounced. He brought the sharp, pointed knee of the Gear into the side of the Rankar, ripping a chunk of flesh off. With a howl the Rankar retreated from the attack, deciding it had had enough. Sean didn't bother to pursue. He powered down the systems of the Gear and leapt out.

He noticed that Doc had managed to land the Land Crab. He walked over to where Doc was standing. "Sean, that was quite remarkable, you're hardly an experienced pilot and you fought that Rankar off with no problems. You know, the trip to Bledavik is quite dangerous, why not consider using the Gear on our travels? I mean, you seemed fine in that fight, and I really don't see why we shouldn't." Sean glanced at the ground.

"I guess so….but Doc, I…really….hate that thing."

"Weltall?" Doc asked.

"Weltall? That's what it's called?" Sean asked, looking at it again. "By the way, I think I that impact with the Rankar jolted something loose on the knee. The left leg felt sluggish after that."

"I wouldn't be surprised, it has certainly been in some heavy fighting recently. Let me take a look. How do you like the name by the way? It means universe." Doc said, as he walked over to the Gear.

"Yeah, it's okay. I'd rather not name it….but you do have a point after all. We may as well use it until we get to Bledavik." He started walking towards Elly, who was slowly coming to her feet, shaking her head. "How do you feel?" he asked She glanced at him, then noticed Weltall. A look of shock crossed her face.

"What…what happened?" she asked a bit dazed.

"Rankar attack." Sean said, not offering to elaborate.

"Ah, you must forgive me, I should've checked you over first rather than the Gear. I'm Dr. Citan Uzuki, a friend of Sean's." Doc walked up to her, extending his hand. She shook it. "Yes Sean, turns out you were right. The knee actuator is broken. I won't be able to fix it either, it'll have to be replaced." He turned back to Elly. "Eheh, you're quite lucky, when I saw Sean trying to fight that Rankar off just by himself, I was a little concerned. Luckily I had decided to bring Weltall, that Gear, along with me."

"Sean…you saved me again?" she asked him.

"Yeah well, I wasn't about to let you get devoured alive." He said. "Doc, how is everyone from the village?" he asked.

"They're with Yui, I made sure they're in a safe place, don't worry about them, I've taken care of it." Doc said with a smile. "You know, it's getting quite late, why don't we make camp here." Doc suggested. Sean nodded in agreement.

"Right, I'll get the wood." He said and walked off.

"Ugh, this is no good." Doc moaned, as he fidgeted with the broken knee actuator. Night had fallen and Sean had built a roaring fire. He walked back over to the fire and smiled as he noticed Sean asleep on the ground. "Oh." He said as he noticed Elly was sitting, still awake. "Having trouble sleeping?" he asked as he sat down on the opposite side of the fire.

"No, not really, I'm just…thinking about all that's happened." She said, staring into the fire.

"I'm sure Sean has already described the details of what's happened to our village. You know, there was a Gear that was unoccupied at the start of the battle. Nil bayer dars legus?" he asked in her language. She looked up, surprise crossing her face.

"How did you…yes, yes it was." She said, responding to his question of whether or not it was hers. "Tell me Dr. Uzuki, how do you know my tongue?" she starred at him suspiciously.

"Well, I've traveled much in my day, and seen many things. You are…a Gebler officer correct?" he asked her. She was amazed at this curious man.

"Yes, yes I am." She responded.

"I can pretty much guess what happened. Your team must've stolen Weltall here, but were forced to land in Lahan due to the pursuing Kislev forces correct?"

"You're very astute doctor." She responded.

"I'm sorry, it's my nature to be inquisitive. I think it's best if we don't pry into each other's pasts any longer." He said. She looked back into the fire.

"Tell me something Doctor. Sean…he's….strong. In fact, he's very strong for a Lamb. He seems even stronger than we are. I've been taught that Lambs are inferior to us, but…Sean seems almost superior."

"Yes, Sean carries a great strength within him, and he has a great compassion about him as well. Does he know about you yet? That it was you who landed in the village?" he asked her.

"No, not yet, but I'd like to apologize to him. I said some…pretty terrible things to him earlier." She said, refusing to look at him.

"Elly, I have a request of you. That you leave us without telling Sean. Sean will understand once I tell him, he's not the one to get angry at something like that. Besides, you're needed back at your base I'm sure. The current path that we're on, follow it to get out of the woods." Elly thought for a moment.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." She stood up. "Doctor, I'd like to thank Sean for what he's done." Doc simply nodded, and with nothing more being said, Elly walked off into the darkness.

The next morning, Doc and Sean packed up their things, and got ready to leave. "Sean, why have you not asked about Elly?" Doc said to him as Sean helped him unload some supplies from the Land Crab.

"Well…I have a confession to make. I wasn't really asleep, I caught most of the conversation last night. So…Elly was part of that group." Sean said. Doc look concerned at first but Sean quickly continued. "Don't worry. It wasn't her fault that the village was destroyed. It was mine, I'll take responsibility for this one Doc."

"Sean, it really wasn't your fault either. You were fighting to protect the village. What happened was really no one's fault. The most important thing now is that we get to Bledavik and explain your situation to Chancellor Boggs." Doc said.

"Yeah, you're right Doc, by the way, about this Gear. Do we really need this type of power? I mean, it goes beyond what is necessary right?" Sean said, as they started off down the path.

"Sean, using power, or being used by power, isn't that a problem of the heart? I believe that if you use a great power for good, there's no problem using that power. Power can be used for good, or for evil. At any rate, we'll have to leave Weltall hear, where it has less chance of being discovered. But we shouldn't leave it here for very long. I propose we stop at Dazil and check the local Ethos shop for the parts we need."

As Doc said this, they neared the edge of the woods, but a great rumbling noise broke the silence. Looking around him, Sean could see nothing, but then looked up in the air as the sun was blotted out by a massive…thing. Sean had never seen anything like it before in his life. It resembled a giant, flying hammerhead shark, but it was a steely white in color, and Sean could see it was clearly built of metal.

"Doc…what is that thing?" he asked in astonishment as the thing seemed to take no notice of them and continue on it's way.

"I'd imagine it's an aerial battleship. That particular one comes from the Sacred Empire of Solaris. That nation has leant our country it's massive military might in the form of the Gebler forces." Doc explained, looking up at it.

"Gebler…so that's Elly's unit?" Sean asked, his eyes still fixated on the battleship.

"Yes, they are currently assisting our war effort against the Kislev Empire, and their forces are incredibly powerful. They've helped tip the balance in our favor after all. I'd say they're heading for the border, probably to deal with the Lahan issue." Doc said thoughtfully. Sean continued to stare at the massive vessel as it slowly glided though the air, and eventually, out of sight over the nearby mountains.

"That thing is incredible." Sean said, as they continued on out of the woods and started across a small grassy plain. A vast desert loomed ahead of them, and a town was visible in the far distance.

"There" Doc said pointing. "Is our first stop, the town of Dazil. Come on Sean, we can reach it by midday. Let's go." Doc said, and started off, making a beeline for the town. Sean shot one last glance behind him at the forest and mountains, but he wasn't going to stop now. Looking ahead of him at the sea of sand, he set off after Doc towards Dazil.


	7. Chapter 6: Dazil, City of Burning Sands

**CB Notes: Once again, thank you all for the reviews, it's greatly appreciated. In this chapter, we'll enter Dazil, the city of burning sands, and the first stop for wayfarers traveling across the desert on their way to Bledavik. Heck it's pretty much the only stop on the way to Bledavik. We'll also see some rather interesting things out in the desert, including the pilot of the mysterious black Gear. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Dazil, City of Burning Sands

"Doc, have you ever been here before?" Sean asked as they walked past the rough-hewn stonewalls and entered Dazil. The first thing Sean noticed were the people, they seemed to be everywhere, running about between the various stands and posts, looking for the best buy, or perhaps merely stocking up with as much as they could for their trip across the desert.

I come here from time to time, mostly to pick up equipment for my excavations. Many people also come here for this purpose, but I wouldn't recommend buying any keepsakes till we reach Bladavik, the merchants here will charge you an arm and a leg for their wares, simply because they know they're the only ones within a hundred miles of Bledavik. This frontier town is really the only place to stock up before heading across the desert, either to an excavation site that's been abandoned by the military, or of course, to Bledavik." Doc explained, as they wove their way through the crowded street.

"What about Randall? Er, Chancellor Boggs, is Bledavik anything like this?" Sean asked, glancing casually at the numerous merchants at the stands. Most of them were clad in robes to protect themselves from the sun, and had on headband or turban type hats to keep the sun off their heads. They were all shouting at once, trying to entice buyers over.

"Well, the main street is definitely like this, though believe it or not, the merchants in Bledavik are much more honest, as they are regular citizens of the city, and pretty much everyone knows each other. Out here, cutthroats and undesirables come and go all time, so you can't really know whom to trust. I mostly buy my things from selected merchants, or the Ethos shop, as the Ethos are really the only ones you can trust out here." He murmured the last part as the street curved at a right angle to the right. "Chancellor Boggs lives in the Royal Palace, which sits atop Bledavik Mountain, which itself lies in the center of the city. That's the main attraction of Bledavik; it's twin peaks. They aren't particularly high, being only five and three thousand feet respectively, but they certainly make for a grand sight and clearly define Aveh's capital." Doc summarized, as they approached a large, green, cone shaped building. "Ah, here we are, the Ethos shop." Doc said as they came closer.

Sean thought of Randall in his palace, and wondered what it would be like waking up everyday, and looking out over the city from the palace's vantage point. As they entered the shop, Sean was immediately struck by two things. One, the cool, pleasant air conditioning, and two, a thick oily smell of machine parts. He could see that the shop was divided into two parts. The back contained a large repair bay for Gears, and Sean could see mechanics scurrying about a small, squat, green Gear. The front part was mostly shelves filled with various parts for Gears and other machines.

"Greetings friends!" came the friendly voice of the Ethos store manager. "What are you looking for today, Gear parts, accessories, weapons, excavating equipment, you name it, we've got it." The man was mid-aged Sean guessed. He was dressed in a tan suit that looked somewhat like the coveralls that the mechanics were wearing, except his suit wasn't covered in grease stains.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we're looking for a JX-6 Injector for knee of a Gear." Doc said.

"JX-6 eh? Hoo boy, that's the latest military model…" the manager said, rubbing his chin. "I might have some in the back, hold on, I'll go check for ya." He said with a smile and entered a door near the back of the shop.

"Doc, who exactly are the Ethos?" Sean asked.

"Well, they're an organization that believes in the benefit of mankind. They run various institutions in numerous cities, places like hospitals, sick wards, Gear shops, excavation companies, and even churches. The Ethos itself is a faith you see, and the people who are part of it believe in the advancement and helping of everyone in need. They're some of the nicest people you could meet, and are almost always willing to lend a helping hand. If you're ever in need of something, the Ethos are almost always on hand to assist." Before he could continue, the manager came back.

"Aw, sorry, ain't it a bummer, turns out that that part is high class. But hey, you know what? I'd be happy to place an order for you with the Ethos Headquarters and they'll be happy to ship ya one promptly." The manager nodded his head as he continued. "Are you staying long in Dazil? Headquarters says it'll only take a week tops to get here."

"No, no, thank you anyways, but we have to be moving along I'm afraid, I think I'll just check out some recent battle sites nearby, there's bound to be one out there." Doc said, smiling good-naturedly.

"Well….alright, hey, tell ya what, since we didn't have it, I'll point ya in the right direction of a guy in town who owns an excellent buggy rental service. It's one of the best ways to get to and from an excavation site in good time." Doc nodded, and the two conversed about the directions while Sean browsed around a bit. He noticed several catalogue pictures taped to a wall, and his gaze was immediately drawn to one particular picture.  
A giant, green sword, very similar to the one Sean used was pictured. Its blade was made of a refined titanium/quartzanium alloy and as he continued to study it, he knew it would make an excellent addition to Weltall. He approached the manager as he and Doc were wrapping up their conversation.

"Excuse me, would you happen to have a sword like that one in stock?" Sean asked, pointing toward the picture. The manager shook his head.

"Sorry not here, that baby's in Bledavik, but I'd be happy to reserve it for you." He said.

"Really? You would? Well in that case, I think I'd like to if that's alright. The name is Sean Athanasios." He told the manager.

"Sean Athanasios, got it! Alright, I'll let our Bledavik store know you're comin." The manager said as he scrawled Sean's name down on a notepad he kept in his pocket. "Mr. Uzuki, once again sorry we didn't have what you were looking for, and good luck out there." The manager warmly shook Doc's hand and they headed out of the shop.

"I thought you didn't want Weltall anymore." Doc stated as they walked down the street, heading for the rental agency.

"Yeah well, I still don't but figured, what the hey, may as well if we're going to Bledavik anyways. Speaking of Weltall, Doc, why can't we just leave it in Blackmoon Forest, I mean it's not really our problem anymore right?"

"Well, I wouldn't advise doing that, you see, if we leave it close to Lahan, the military is bound to find it sooner or later, and if that happens, I'm willing to bet that the Kislev Empire is going to want another shot at retrieving their Gear. Which means…" Doc trailed off.

"That Aveh and Kislev will start fighting over it again, and close to Lahan too. Yeah I see your point, we should move it a bit further away." Sean said as they reached the stone shop. Most of the buildings in Dazil were stone, and built up against the wall that surrounded the city. Once again, Sean was glad to get in out of the heat and into an air-conditioned environment. Sean noticed a blue desert buggy, with completely enclosed interior, sitting out front. It resembled a box with wheels.

When they went into the shop, Doc worked out the arrangements with the owner, and turned to Sean. "Alright Sean, I'm heading into the desert to look for the part we need. I hopefully will be back in a few hours, so just wait here until I get back." With that, Doc walked out of the shop and Sean watched from the window as he started the buggy up and drove out of town. Sighing, he took a seat in one of the shop's chairs and picked up some magazines that were on a nearby table.

He was surprised to see Randall's smiling face on the cover of one them, and with another sigh, he flipped open the cover and began reading.

Man this was boring, Sean thought, as he put the last magazine down. How many hours had passed since Doc had left? Sure the story of Randall was interesting, it described his recent role in the Kingdom of Aveh, but after reading through various articles, he was just plain bored.

"You know, I'd be worried about that guy if I were you."

"Beg your pardon?" Sean looked up at the shop owner.

"Yeah, I mean, there are pirates out there these days, they cruise around in a big sand cruiser and raid the excavation sites." The man continued.

"You know, this is the kinda thing that woulda really helped had you told me a lot earlier!" Sean said, and rushed out of the shop. Great, just what he needed. Sure Doc was smart, but he was a little absent minded at times. Not really sure what to do, but knowing that he couldn't just stand there, he picked up a map from a nearby vendor of the surrounding desert and it's excavation points, bought some water, and headed out of Dazil. The sweltering sun beat down on him, but he didn't care, finding Doc was most important now. Glancing at the map, he noticed an excavation site that was only two miles away. He decided to head there first.

He took off at a fast walk, over the scorching sands. The sun was luckily beginning to set however as he set off. He noticed several Aveh military Gears walking around in the far off horizon. He continued on, paying them no mind. His only goal was to reach that excavation site. At least he knew he couldn't get lost, so long as he kept those Gears in sight, he could simply head over to them if he couldn't find Doc.

The sun had set only a few minutes ago as Sean took a swig from his canteen, some of the water dripping down his chin. The Gears were still in sight, and there were more groups of them the farther he went. He guessed he had walked about a mile when he heard that all too familiar rumbling noise. Knowing now to look up in the sky, he was quite taken aback by what he saw this time.

Sean could only describe it as a massive flying saucer. It seemed to be surrounded by some sort of orange energy field and passed directly over him, flying at a very low altitude. The thing was a ring with spokes that fanned out to a central tower like structure in the middle of the ring. It cruised at a rather rapid speed, much faster than the battleship had flown, and in a few minutes was out of sight over the horizon and dunes.

"What in the…." He said. What on earth? Was that an actual UFO and had he actually seen it? He had to have seen it, he was sure of that, but what was it? There were UFO sightings all over the continent, but they were few and far between, and none had ever reported one this closely before. Before he could contemplate further, he heard the low roar of some sort of motors heading towards him. He turned around and saw a group of Aveh soldiers on motorcycles, heading toward him at a rapid speed. This gave him an idea as he noticed that the last soldier was trailing slightly behind the others. He raced to the top of the nearest dune to get out of sight.

One by one, the bikes passed below him, until the very last one was approaching. He immediately charged down at it, getting right in it's path. The soldier screamed, and veered sharply to the left, throwing up a curtain of side as the bike skidded sideways. The skid threw the soldier off and landed both him and the bike in a nearby mound of sand.

"Thank you!" Sean called out as he ran over to the bike, righting it, and gunned the engine. The soldier got up and shook his head,

"Hey, what the…stop!" the guy drew a gun, but Sean spun the back wheel, throwing sand in the guy's face, and took off. "Hoo! Yeah! Now this is more like it!" he exclaimed as he raced across the dunes at high speed, the wind whipping his face. He had never ridden one of these before, and he was enjoying every minute of it. As he continued riding, he noticed a familiar shape in the distance.

"Weltall?" he asked himself as he got closer. Yes, it was definitely Weltall alright, standing next to a large mesa. He braked hard and came to a stop at its feet.

"Well, well, hello there Sean." The familiar voice of Doc said from inside the cockpit.

"Doc….I don't understand…how…"

"Heh, I found the part I needed and fixed Weltall right away, but you were no longer in Dazil by the time I got back, so I figured I'd use Weltall to find you. It wasn't difficult either, I flew ahead of you and merely waited for you to pull up. Nice bike by the way, hope you didn't steal it from the Aveh military." Doc said, climbing out of Weltall.

"Borrowing it." Sean said with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll give it back, or maybe just leave it here, they're military after all, they should have no problems finding it." He got off the bike and headed for Weltall but something made him stop dead in his tracks.

On top of the mesa, far up above Weltall, stood an ominous black Gear, in fact, the very same one that had been present at the destruction of Lahan. On its shoulder stood a man, his arms folded, clad in dark brown. Dark brown combat boots, brown baggy pants, a brown armored chest plate, a brown that was whipped by the wind, and a brown and dark green mask with horns coming out the side of it. It was impossible to see the man's face due to the mask, but Sean could see two points of glowing red eyes. And then, the man spoke, in a voice that was deep and cavernous and sounded like it bordered on death itself.

"Welcome Sean. Welcome, to the beginning of the Apocalypse."


	8. Chapter 7: Grahf, Emperor of Darkness

**CB Notes: Yes it was mentioned under a profile somewhere about the Ministry being duped. Thank you for the reviews again. In this chapter Randall and Sean finally meet…though it goes a little differently than everyone's expecting. We also meet Grahf proper and get to meet the compassionate Captain Roy Jurgenssen.**

Chapter 7: Grahf Emperor of Darkness

"Who in the hell are you?" demanded Sean as he got into Weltall's cockpit. The man gazed down at him, his red eyes seemingly burning through Sean.

"I have many titles, but one name. I am Grahf, Emperor of Darkness, Seeker of Power, and Bringer of the Apocalypse." His deep voice boomed. "Sean, you and I are destined to destroy this pathetic planet, and all of its inhabitants! You, the Destroyer of God, the one gifted with the ultimate power, I've been waiting for you Sean. Together, we shall crush the pitiful existence on this world, and together, we shall destroy God!" Sean had no idea what this guy was rambling about.

Look pal, I have no idea who you are, so back off, you hear! What are talking about? Destroy God? And what were you doing at Lahan? You were there during the attack, and it was you who signaled those other Gears to shoot Timothy!" Sean demanded answers from this guy, and it was answers he got.

"That was merely to act as a catalyst, to awaken your true power. Don't you see? You have it inside of you, this is not the real you, you're holding your power back Sean, but you are capable of so much more! Lahan was simply sacrificed to awaken your sleeping power." Grahf explained.

"You killed innocent people for that! What the hell is wrong with you? What power? What are talking about!" Sean's voice was rising, his anger growing at Grahf.

"Don't tell me you're concerned about those people. Face it. You merely speeded up the process of their own termination! They were people living blindly without any true future or purpose in life. Their destruction at your hands was a fitting end! You used your power for it's true purpose! Heh, if you're truly concerned about them, then you're no different from your father." Grahf said menacingly. Sean's eyes went wide at this.

"My…my father? What…what do you know about him?" Sean asked, feeling uneasy.

"Hahah! Look well boy! For I am the one who has slain your father! He died fighting to protect you but look at the end result. All those who face me perish. Heh, he let out such a splendid scream as he died." The words cut into Sean like icy daggers. This…monster standing in front of him, he couldn't have….he just couldn't be telling the truth…

"If that is true then….Grahf, you shall pay for his death!" shouted Sean, powering up Weltall.

"Your powers are still below what I require. I do not have time for you now. But don't worry, I've arranged for you to still be entertained nonetheless." As Grahf spoke, Sean felt the ground under Weltall's feet shaking. What's going on? He wondered as the tremors increased and a great mountain of sand exploded in front of him. A giant wyrm rose up from under the sand, it's four giant fangs opening wide to reveal an empty pit where its mouth was. "This shall be your first test Sean! The first step toward harnessing your true potential. You must fight to survive, farewell and until our next meeting." Grahf spoke as his black Gear ascended into the night sky, rising up to blood red moon.

"Wait! You're not getting away!" Sean called after him, but he knew that the wyrm in front of him took priority at the moment, as he wasn't even sure on how to activate the rocket boosters on Weltall. Bracing himself, he brought Weltall into a combat stance and prepared to fight the monstrosity before him.

"What the hell is Grahf doing? Why is he toying with my target?" asked a tired Captain Roy Jurgenssen of the Aveh Desert Patrol Force. The lens on his binoculars clicked once, twice, each time zooming in further.   
"Who knows? Does anyone really know what Grahf's sick games entail anyways?" responded his first officer, Gale Rudvick. Jurgenssen shook his head as he watched.

"That guy gets away with far too much. Looks a wyrm has just risen to the surface….poor kid, he'll get annihilated."

"You sure sir? If the Chancellor himself considers this guy a high priority then maybe…" Rudvick trailed off.

"Oh come on! Since when has anyone survived a desert wyrm attack? That kid's as good as toast. Oh! Looks like Grahf is taking off. Alright!" Jurgenssen put down the binoculars. "Tell squads A and B to move in, squads C and D in a backup position. Orders are to take him alive." Rudvick nodded his understanding, and raced off to alert the Gear pilots. Bagging this one alive would be tricky, thought Jurgenssen, as he stole one more glance at the wyrm.

With a shout, Sean accelerated at the wyrm, as the wyrm roared and opened its gaping maw. Doc stood near the bike, watching the fight from a safe distance. Sean brought Weltall's arms up as the two of the fangs came down, and in a split second, he caught them and held on. For a minute, the two strained against each other, but only for a moment. With a lightning twist of the arm, Sean tore the upper right fang of the wyrm clean off the roof of its mouth. The wyrm howled in pain.

"Amazing, he's anticipated the wyrm's move a split second before it happened." Doc commented to himself as he watched the clash. Sean hopped Weltall back a few steps as the wyrm shook its tube like body, blood pouring from its mouth. It let out an angry shriek and slithered forward, its body undulating like waves to move. Sean was ready however, just as the wyrm approached he leapt up and brought Weltall's sharp feet down on top of the wyrm's back. The wyrm was in pure agony now, but suddenly shifted, rolling over and bringing Weltall with it as it shifted its weight. Sean managed to land Weltall on its feet, but had to bring the hands up to stop the wyrm from rolling on top of him. He was visibly straining now, sweat appearing on his forehead, as he grimaced, keeping the huge thing off of him. The strain was immense, he felt a sharp, searing pain in his arms as he wrestled with the controls, trying desperately to keep the wyrm from falling on him.

He had to do something, he couldn't keep this up forever, eventually the immense weight would overpower him, but he got an idea. He closed Weltall's hands, digging them into the wyrm's side. The wyrm shrieked and shifted back to the other side, coming off of Weltall's arms. Sean let them back down, gasping out for breath. He had to finish it now or he'd be worn out and the wyrm would have him. Gathering up his strength, he launched Weltall at the wyrm, ripping into its side with the Gear's left hand and dragging it along the wyrm's length, opening up its side and in all aspects eviscerating it. The wyrm collapsed after the assault, utterly spend and now in its death throes.

"Well done Sean! That was quite impressive! You really are adept at piloting Weltall you know!" Doc cried out as he ran over to Weltall. The cockpit slowly opened and Sean got out, but he was swaying, not steady on his feet at all. Something was clearly wrong. "Sean?" asked Doc as Sean collapsed on the sand in front of him. "Sean!" Doc knelt down but at that moment, no less than twelve high-powered searchlights were switched on from all directions, bathing Doc in an utterly blinding light.

"This is the Aveh Desert Patrol Force. Don't move. You're under arrest pending an investigation by Chancellor Boggs on your affiliation with the Kislev Empire. Do not make any attempts to resist or you will be shot dead." A voice blared over a loudspeaker. Doc raised his arm in front of his face, trying to see what was behind those lights, but it was literally impossible to tell. Before he knew it, he was roughly grabbed from behind and jerked to his feet. He could see soldiers stoop over Sean and lift him up. Doc was shoved around and put into a full nelson. He was facing an Aveh Desert Transport vehicle, on that was especially designed to "float" over the sand. It was a long, flat rectangle in shape, brown in color, and sat on six supports. On the of the bottom of the supports sat the propulsion devices, giant cog shaped wheels that ground into the sand and sped the vehicle forward.

Twisting his head to his right, he could barely make out the silhouettes of the soldiers carrying Sean's limp body. The whole process took less than ten minutes. Doc and Sean were stashed in a holding cell, Weltall was loaded on the top of the transport via a magnetic crane, and Captain Jurgenssen's transport was off, speeding across the desert toward Bledavik.

Captain Jurgenssen stared into the black well of his coffee cup. The transport glided across the desert, the sand rushing below the glass pane in front of him. The command center was simple enough, with a long low series of computer panels in underneath the front windows. The panes of glass extended around to the left and right sides, giving a 180- degree view of the surrounding desert. Jurgenssen sighed. He hated these late night missions, but it couldn't be helped. At least he could look forward to a comfortable bed once they reached Bledavik.

"Sir" spoke Rudvick from behind him. "The Royal Deurmod carrying Chancellor Boggs himself is inbound." Jurgenssen turned around.

"What? But that's…why is he coming here?"

"He said something about the interrogation." Replied Rudvick.

"Interrogation? You can't be serious!" Jurgenssen sighed again. The last thing he needed was the Chancellor coming onboard. "Fine, let's get ready to greet his royal pain in the ass." Jurgenssen put on a fake grin and walked off to the landing pad.

Sean was in another dark dream. In this one, rain pelted the rocky ground. He couldn't be quite sure as to where he was, but he could make out three figures in the distance. Lightning flashed, and Sean could see each one. The one in the middle was Grahf, but the other two he could be sure he hadn't seen before, at least not the guy on the left. The person on the left was dressed in some sort of black armor, and had thick, bushy red hair. The man on the right could only be described as his father. Sean wasn't sure how he knew, he just felt it what was. His father was dressed in a green robe, and had a stern, drawn face. His father and the guy on the right began emitting auras, blue for his father, red for the black clad man. Grahf looked between the two, then turned to Sean.

"We must join together." He said to him. Sean's father then spoke.

"I never once imagined I'd run into you in a place like this." Lightning flashed as he spoke slowly. "But…even so…I can't let you have him." His father looked at the black clad man, who grinned and slightly chuckled. "EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!" his father shouted as he charged at the black clad man. The flashes of lightning lit up their fight as Grahf watched from nearby. All of sudden, the rain felt real on Sean's face, and the feeling brought him back to conscious.

Sean sputtered at the water that had been thrown in his face. His blurry vision focused on the grinning face of Randall Boggs. Randall's upper fingers were pressed together, forming a pyramid. Sean looked around him, but all he could tell was that he was seated in a dark room with Randall sitting across from him. Doc was seated in a corner with a guard standing over him, leveling an assault rifle at his chest. An Aveh captain stood watching from behind Randall, his arms folded.

"Randall?" Sean asked, struggling with the words.

"Hello Sean." Randall said with a wicked tone. "It's been 3 years. So good to…see you again." The pause in Randall's speech caused an uneasy feeling in Sean. Randall dropped his upper right arm, and brought a small leather whip into view.

"And just what the hell do you think you're going to do with that, and for that matter, where am I?" Sean asked, bringing his hand to his head.

"A desert transport, en route to Bledavik. And this?" Randall asked, waving the whip. "Why beat you of course, until you tell me what I need to know. Why did you steal a high tech Gear from the Gebler forces?" he asked, raising the whip above his head. Sean glanced at it.

"What the….you honestly….you wouldn't, and need I remind you, you stole that Gear from the Kislev Empire first! I was merely trying to defend Lahan, OUR village, from attack!" Sean responded. Whack! The whip collided with his skull, sending a sharp, intense pain as his brain was jarred.

"Lies! I think you had best make up a better story than that if wish to avoid this!" Randall snarled.

"Chancellor, I protest this act! The former King did not condone treatment of prisoners like this!" Jurgenssen spoke up, appalled at what was taking place aboard his vessel. Randall's head shot around, his beady gave fixing on Jurgenssen.  
"That is precisely why the Prime Minister deposed our last King and placed himself on the throne! There is no need for weak monarchs anymore! This is MY interrogation and YOU will not interfere!" as Randall spoke he brought the whip again upon Sean's head. Doc stirred in his seat.

"Randall! How could you even think of doing this to your old friend! What is the matter with you? Sean is telling the truth! He was fighting to save Lahan from…"

"Silence! I don't need YOUR opinion on this matter! If I desire your opinion, I'll beat it out of you!" Randall snapped. Sean lowered his head, the immense pain from the blow coursing through his skull.

"Randall, please…stop this…" he murmured. Randall grinned.

"Stop what Sean? I work for the Prime Minister now, things have changed, and I have orders to" POW, another blow, "interrogate" POW, "you" POW "until you…" the blow did not come this time however as a slapping sound was heard instead. Sean raised his head, blood dripping down his face. He saw that Jurgenssen had grabbed hold of Randall's arm.

"That is enough Chancellor!" Jurgenssen shouted in Randall's face. "I will not have you beating my prisoner's senseless! What good will that do and furthermore, I've come to understand that you and he are old friends! You sir, will leave my vessel IMMEDIATELY and not come back, do you understand! This is a reprehensible act and I will tolerate it!" Jurgenssen raised his fist as if to strike Randall, but Sean called out.

"Stop! Don't…don't hit him. I…I…" but Sean felt too weak to speak, and he collapsed onto the floor. Randall's eyes blazed at Jurgenssen as he wrenched his arm free.

"You realize to whom you're speaking? You Jurgenssen, consider yourself relieved of command, and furthermore, you shall be arrested upon arrival in Bledavik where you will join these prisoners in a concentration camp!" Randall yelled at him as he stormed out of the room. Sean lay, coughing, on the floor. Jurgenssen came up to him.

"Guard! Fetch some water!" he ordered at the soldier. The soldier looked at him for a moment, then did as he was instructed. "I'm terribly sorry for that." Jurgenssen said softly, tipping the metal cup into Sean's mouth. "I do not condone that at all, plus, from an old friend…I'm very sorry." Sean's parched lips gratefully accepted the water and after drinking his fill, he got slowly to his feet. "You'll be taken back to your cell now. Is…is there anything else you need?"

"No…but…" Sean trailed off. Jurgenssen nodded and led them down a corridor. "Doc," Sean said.

"Yes Sean?" asked Doc.

"He's…he's changed…but….I could still sense the old Randall beneath that skin…he's just scared is all…" Sean had to be half dragged to the cell as the splitting pain in his head increased. As they were herded inside, Jurgenssen took one last, sad look at Sean, then the door was shut and locked. His eyes took on a sad look as he strode down the corridor and the transport continued on its path into the lonely night.


	9. Chapter 8: Fuse

Chapter 8: Fuse

Sean rolled over on the bed and opened his eyes slowly, the small cell coming into focus. Sunlight streamed in from a small porthole on one of the walls. Doc lay in a bed that was exactly like his across from him, except Doc was lying down, he was sitting on the end of the bed, looking away from Sean. He had an intense look on his face and his right hand was slightly touching his forehead. Sean wondered what Doc was doing as he got off the bed and approached him.

/Your highness, are you there?\ Doc concentrated hard and formed those words in his mind. Within seconds he felt Emperor Cain establish a mental link with him, and after a few more seconds, it was if Doc himself were standing in the Emperor's throne room, looking at Cain. Cain sat before him, his orange body suit covering his body, including his face, and gave Cain an almost scaly look. His masked head turned toward Doc, the skull like features of the mask not moving as Cain responded.

/Yes Mr. Ricdeau, please give your report\ the voice was low, and calming. Doc concentrated and then formed his words.

/Your highness, we have been seized by forces of the Aveh Kingdom, and are being transported to Bledavik. I'm not concerned however, I've been in far worse scrapes before after all\

/How is Sean, how is the Contact? Have you reached a conclusion yet? Is he a threat to this planet?\ Cain asked. Doc thought hard before his words were formed.

/I have not yet decided your highness. Things are pretty good so far though, Sean is an overall compassionate, caring person and I think his journey should be assisted\

/Very well, I trust your judgment Mr. Ricdeau, and I will let Sean continue on his way, but remember, I do require him to be brought before me or at least the Ministry in trial so that I can make my final decision was Cain's response.\

/Sire, the Ministry…you, can't let them…complete their goals Doc told Cain.\

/I will think on your council Mr. Ricdeau. Continue with your mission and I will contact you again\ Cain said.

/As you wish your highness. Keep me informed of the Ministry's plans for Sean as well. I'll keep in touch and continue on with my mission\ with that, Doc felt the mental link break, and almost at the same time felt Sean's hand upon his shoulder.

"Doc?" asked Sean. Doc's eyes opened and he sat upright.

"Yes Sean?" asked Doc, turning to Sean and smiling.

"Are…you…alright?" asked Sean, a concerned look on his face.

"Yes Sean, I was merely thinking. By the way, Chancellor Boggs left last night, I saw the Gear he had been taken in launch and head in Bledavik's direction." Doc continued smiling at Sean.

"Oh…I see." Sean said, turning away. He slowly walked over to the porthole. "Doc…I've been thinking about what Grahf said, about my father. Was….was that true?" asked Sean, still looking out the desert as it whizzed by. Doc sighed.

"Sean, I think that Grahf is a man who has many secrets. I mean, look at him, he wears a mask after all. He obviously has things to hide himself. There's a very basic rule in life Sean, and it's that you can't believe everything you hear. I've gotten far with this simple rule and I think it's up to you to find out the truth." Sean thought about this for a moment. Everything was happening so fast, he wished that time would just decide to take it slow for a change. So much had happened to him in the past few days, he wondered what would lie ahead. As Sean's gaze swept over the desert, there was no way that he'd catch the tiny periscope just barely sticking up out of the sand.

"That's it, the Aveh transport we've been tracking and on it's back….bingo! The new model Kislev Gear everyone's been talking about." Spoke Bartholomew Fatima as the view from the periscope showed him the transport with Weltall on it's back glide by, oblivious to the fact that only 100 feet under the sand rested the Yggdrasil, the sand cruiser of Bart's desert pirates. "Well, there ain't no way in hell I'm letting Shakhan have that Gear!" spoke Bart as he dropped the periscope back down. Bart was of average height, dressed in a red shirt with white pants. He brushed some of his blond hair out his face, revealing that he wore an eye patch over his left eye. Snapping his head to the bridge crew, he called out "All stations, report status!" The controls for the bridge swept around in a semicircle at the front of the bridge, with 4 stations in all. Franz, a chubby dolphin like Demihuman dressed in a white jumpsuit, moved his flippers over some knobs and chimed in.

"Nothing unusual on the sonar, looks good and clear."

"All weapons are go and ready to give a good spankin cap'n!" said the next one over, James Firecat, a red haired Bastet Demihuman.

"Commander Maitreya reports all Gears in the hanger ready to scramble at a moment's notice" reported Mirri Lufkin, a brunette with a white streak running through her hair.

"Engine room in working order" called out Veemon, a small, blue dragon type Demihuman.

"Alright!" responded Bart. "Blow ballast, we're surfacing, as soon as we hit the surface, James, I want our turrets hitting them with everything they've got em in, Bunker busters, armor piercing, incendiary rounds, hell I don't care, just shake em up and knock em down. Then Mirri, I want my Gears out and rounding up any survivors. We'll then move in and be the proud owners of a brand new Kislev model!" Bart handing out his orders, his excitement growing as Veemon switched the ship over to battle stations. General quarters sounded and the Yggdrasil blew its ballast and began rising for a surprise surface attack. Two men came running onto the bridge in that instant. One was the white haired, dark skinned first officer, the other was dressed in an expensive purple suit and wore rimless, fancy looking glasses. His grey hair was swept back in a pompadour. The white haired first officer, Sigurd Harcourt, also had an eye patch, but this one was over the right eye.

"Young master! What…what are you doing…you're not…attacking that transport are you?" asked Sigurd as he struggled to maintain his balance with the ship crashing upwards at a near 90 degree angle.

"Yeah baby! You better believe it!" shouted Bart, pumping his fists in the air.

"Young master this is so ill-advised! I think that mph!" cried out Lawrence Maison, the expensively dressed man as he toppled to the ground, losing his balance. The Yggdrasil shot up nose first out of the sand, and came crashing back down on even keel only 200 yards from the transport. She was a long black, tubular structure with a conning tower in the middle. Her two front turrets swung out to starboard, bearing on the transport.

"Heeeeeeeere's Firecat!" hooted James as the turrets belched fire, sending shells screaming towards the transport.

Captain Roy Jurgenssen on the bridge of the transport had at most a minute to react before the shells struck his vessel.

"Captain! Look! Off the port quarter!" cried out the portside lookout. Jurgessen raised his binoculars in time to see the black Yggdrasil crash back down after its explosive surface and start cruising alongside them.

"Shit! Port side guns, swing out, fire at will!" was Jurgenssen's command. The port guns began rotating to fix on the Yggdrasil but by then it was too late. Shells struck the transport. Several others exploded on the side of the vessel, the explosion from one of them blowing open Sean and Doc's door, another one struck beneath the sand line, ripping a hole in the ship and causing sand to pour in at a rapid rate. The transport developed a serious list, and began sinking into the sand. Jurgenssen knew his ship was doomed and ordered an immediate evacuation.

When the door to their cell was blown open, Sean and Doc immediately reacted. They had both seen the Yggdrasil surface nearby, and when their cell door came down they didn't waste any time. Taking off down the corridor, they headed for the top deck and Weltall.

"Doc! Who are these guys?" asked Sean as they raced up a flight of stairs.

"I'd say they're the royal pirates, but no time for that now! Let's just get Weltall and get off this ship!" Doc responded, throwing open the door to the top deck. Racing across the platform, Sean was delighted to find his sword still in Weltall's cockpit. Powering up the Gear and and taking Doc in its right hand, Sean shouted.

"Alright Doc! Hang on!" and accelerated off the deck, heading over the sand. They hadn't gotten very far however when they were confronted by a single red Gear. Sean noticed other red Gears, but they were all off rounding up survivors from the sinking transport.

"Leave your friends to die in a sea of sand while you take off with the Gear. Some soldier you are!" said Bart sarcastically from the cockpit of his Gear Brigandier.

"I'm not a soldier. I was a prisoner onboard that ship and this Gear belongs to me." Said Sean as he put a rather shaken Doc down.

"Oh, yeah right. Come on, my dead grandma tells better stories than that! Look, I'm takin that Gear whether you like it or not!" Bart said as Doc backed away from the two.

"Look, I'm not a soldier why don't you just…." Sean was cut off as Brigandier charged him, two whips shooting out of its wrists and lassoing Weltall.

"Hah! Gotcha!" exclaimed Bart. Before anything more could be done however, he felt his Gear sinking, and sinking fast. "What in the!" he called out but it was too late. The sinkhole he had been standing on opened up, and Brigandier was sucked downwards, out of sight. Sean struggled desperately to detach the whips but they ended up pulling Weltall down into the sinkhole as well. Doc watched astonished before a red Gear landed behind him. They were gone! It….was bizarre, but he knew they'd probably be okay. They had probably sunken into an abandoned excavation site. Turning to face the red Gear, he allowed himself to be taken to the Yggdrasil.

On the top deck of the conning tower, the Aveh survivors, including Roy Jurgenssen, were kept with their backs to the edge of the tower, and Mirri in front of them. Some were coughing on the deck, choking on sand. Mirri eyed them wickedly, a throwing knife in her hand.

"Let me explain how this works." She said. "It's called Domination. You guys stay there, coughing your guts out, and by no means are you to cross this black line." She gestured with a foot where the line was. "If any of you decide that it might be fun to see what happens, not only will you have cold steel sticking out of your forehead, but I will also personally toss you over the side, where you'll serve as fertilizer, thus achieving much more in death than you ever did in life." The soldiers stared at her with wide eyes, realizing that she definitely wasn't a woman to be messed with. Jervis Tetch, the Yggdrasil's scientist who also doubled as medical officer stepped forward. He was of average height with blond hair and buck teeth.

"Does anyone need limbs amputated? Any serious injuries like spinal cords being severed, sand asphyxiation, cracked craniums, anything at all? No? Too bad." He said in a light voice, sounding disappointed. Nearby, Sigurd Harcourt stood looking out over the desert with Doc.

"Hyuga, I never once imagined I'd bump into you in a place like this." Sigurd said in a deep, low voice.

"Ah, about that Sig, call me Dr. Citan Uzuki from now on. I…well, I'm on a mission for his majesty Emperor Cain, and I'd prefer it if you addressed me by that name rather than my real one." Doc responded.

"Uzuki? Isn't that your wife's…" Sigurd asked.

"Yes, I'm taking my wife's last name for this one." Doc said.

"I see. Still working for the Emperor then. Wow, I never even knew. I must apologize for what happened. The young master is always doing something like this and getting into trouble. He's youthful, but reckless. I should've prevented it." Doc shook his head.

"Think nothing of it Sig. You saved us from a concentration camp actually, and it's good to know that we're now among friends. Speaking of which, will the young master and Sean be alright?" asked Doc, looking at him. Sigurd nodded.

"I wouldn't worry, the young master has been in far more dangerous situations than this, I'm sure he'll pop back up sooner or later. Besides, he's not one to hold a grudge. Once he realizes that Sean isn't a soldier I think putting aside their differences will come quite easily." Doc looked out over the sea of sand, hoping his old friend was right.

"Yo Sig!" called out Mirri, shoving Jurgenssen before her. "Turns out this guy wants to defect."

"Yo?" Sigurd asked, a bit put off by the informality of his subordinate, but he knew Mirri well enough to know she meant nothing by it, it was just natural for her. He turned to face Jurgenssen.

"Yes, I'm told you're next in command of this vessel since his highness has gone missing. Look, sir, I pledged allegiance to the last king, Edbart IV, not the Prime Minister or any of his jackass cronies. Please sir, I'm fed up, tired, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to pledge my allegiance to the new king once again. I…don't expect you to trust me, but if you're willing, my men have all agreed. We want to come with you." Jurgenssen explained, wringing his hands. Sigurd closed his left eye.

"What do you think Hyu…uhh, Dr. Uzuki. This man was your captor, I'll let you decide."

"Well Mr. Harcourt, he's a compassionate man. I could tell he had a distaste for what was going on. I say let him stay." Doc smiled. Jurgenssen looked up, hope coming into his eyes. Sigurd nodded.

"Very well, then. Mr. Jurgenssen, welcome aboard the Yggdrasil." Jurgenssen beamed. Doc turned back to the desert, wondering exactly what kind of a situation Sean was in.


	10. Chapter 9: Slayer of God

**CB Notes: Well, sorry for no notes on the last chapter, weren't any reviews and besides Fuse is mostly self-explanatory. Thank you James for the review, glad you liked it. In this chapter we get introduced to one of the 3 ancient Shevat Sages and learn a bit about Sean having an obvious past. This one is a little longer but it does deal with an important event.**

Chapter 9: Slayer of God

Sean looked around him, the darkness of the cavern enclosing everything in sight. He saw the pilot of the red Gear get out of the cockpit and walk towards Weltall.

"Alright you, get out!" ordered Bart. Sean decided he may as well so that this guy could see once and for all that he wasn't a soldier of Aveh. As he stepped out, Bart's right eye widened. "You….you ain't a soldier!" he exclaimed. Sean rolled his eyes and shook his head.   
"I TOLD you that before, but no, why don't we just attack first and verity our target later. Yeah, that's a REAL good strategy." He said sarcastically.

"Hey! If you had just given me the Gear from the start, we wouldn't be in this mess." Bart explained, looking around him at the cavern.

"Wrong! If you hadn't impulsively attacked we wouldn't be in this mess." Sean replied.

"Yeah well, judging from the looks of it," Bart said, changing the subject. "we're in some sort of excavation site." Sean looked around him and it did appear to be true. They were in some sort of massive pit, with rusty machinery such as cranes, diggers and rock crushers lying around them in haphazard formation. "My Gear got a little banged up in the fall. Looks like it'll take two of us to get out of here though. Now that I know you're not a Shakhan crony, truce?" asked Bart, extending his hand. Sean thought a moment.

"Well, alright, just don't be so impulsive next time." He said shaking Bart's hand.

"Bartholomew Fatima, leader of the Yggdrasil pirates, you can call me Bart, and this here's my Gear Brigandier." Sean's eyes widened a bit.

"Fatima? You mean you're….related to the royal family?" asked Sean. Bart looked down at the ground.

"Pfft, yeah I guess you could say that. I'm next in line for the throne of Aveh, at least now I am since my father, the last king, was killed by that bastard Shakhan, and you?" Bart asked, looking back at him.

"Sean Athanasios. I'm….well, just a guy from Lahan Village. That's my Gear Weltall. Well, I guess you could say I'm borrowing it from the Kislev Empire." Sean motioned to Weltall.

"Borrowing it eh? Heh, you know, I hate this stupid war. Aveh and Kislev have been at each other's throats for as long as I can remember, and Shakhan isn't helping the situation at all. The war has only gotten worse ever since he took over, plus he has those Gebler geeks backing him up. Say, what's that?" he asked, pointing toward a shaft of light. Sean gazed over at it.

"Looks like…a dwelling…someone lives down here?" asked Sean in wonderment.

"Heh, well whaddya know? Why not check it out, whoever it is may know a way outta here." Bart sauntered off toward the crudely built hut. Sean wasn't so sure if it was a good idea, but he figured he may as well anyways since there weren't really too many options. As he headed over, he noticed a giant, rusted iron gate on his right. The thing was easily as tall as the cave itself. He wondered exactly what it was for. The hut was small, carved into the side of the cavern and also built with some metal parts, probably scavenged from the machinery lying around. Bart banged his fist on a metal sheet plate.

"Anyone home? I see some lights on but…" he called into the hut. An old, cracked voice called back from inside.

"Yes, come in, I heard your Gears fall from above. I don't have many visitors these days, please, come in." Bart looked at Sean, shrugged, and headed inside, followed by Sean. Sean looked around. The hut was dug into the cavern wall itself, and was pretty much a tunnel. Some tapestries hung from the walls, and there was a cast iron stove in a niche off to the right. At the far end of the tunnel Sean could see shelves and a desk and what appeared to be a small cot. An old man sat in the niche next to the stove. This man looked incredibly ancient to Sean. He had a cracked, wrinkled face with big, bushy white eyebrows. Thick, messy white hair flowed down from his head to his mid-back. He was dressed in a brown tunic type suit that had some sort of blue design emblazoned on it. He turned towards them and rose slowly to his feet, his eyes showed much wisdom in them, and his haggard face took on a smile. Sean noted that his face was quite hawk like, but he could tell this man had great knowledge within him.

"Welcome travelers, welcome, to my humble home. I haven't had visitors in oh.." he paused for a minute, thinking. "35 years. Yes, so good to see you. Please, I was just about to serve my afternoon meal. Oh, pardon me, nearly forgot, my name is Isaac Balthasar" He said, coming over to them. Sean and Bart both introduced themselves.

"Say old man, you sure got an impressive collection here. Where'd it come from?" asked Bart as they followed him towards the back of the tunnel.

"Oh this? Heh" he chuckled, waving his hand. "It's nothing really. I've been alive for a long time you know. Oh! Speaking of which, these skulls that you see." He gestured toward one of the shelves. They stopped in front of it. The skulls seemed to show the evolution of humanity, as they went from near ape like to far smaller and more humanoid in shape. "Don't you know? It's very strange. These skulls only go back 10,000 years or so, and then they just stop. Why do you think that is? It's almost of if humanity didn't even exist on this planet before 10,000 years. According to the creation myth, God created man in his image, and placed him in a paradise, the Garden of Eden. Man however, came to be sinful, even to the point of creating giants to rebel against God. These giants, or Gears, were supposedly made so that humanity wouldn't have to rely on a god anymore. God of course cast man out of Eden, and placed him here, on this rock. Man paid for his depravity, but the legend goes that God was forced into a sleep, and still lies in paradise, someplace at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, it's just a myth, and I'm sorry if I'm filling your head with such rubbish. Myths like these should hardly ever be taken seriously." He told them, as they arrived at his desk in the back.

"Hey old man, what's that crest on your tunic?" asked Bart, pointing at it. Balthasar looked down.

"Oh this? Eheh, it is the crest of Shevat your highness." He said.

"You knew? Man, guess my name is pretty well known in these parts. Say, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the Treasure of Aveh would you?" he asked.

"Mmm, the Treasure of Aveh, it is a great treasure, said to be of much power, supposedly buried somewhere. I believe you need the Fatima Jasper to find it, am I correct?" asked Balthasar, eyeing him.

"That part you are correct. It's gotta be a Gear! I just know it! My ancestors sealed off that treasure until it was needed but…I've been searching for it forever. Oh, what's Shevat by the way?" he asked, coming back to the subject.

"Oh…just a far off place. Say, you wouldn't mind letting me have a look at your Gears would you? I admire them so much and have spent a good deal of my life as a Gear savant. I love the sound of a good Gear walking across the desert up above." He said, a happy expression on his face.

"I don't see why not, do you Sean?" asked Bart, turning to him. Sean shook his head, coming back after his head was filled with all this information.

"No, no, not at all, be our guests." He said, smiling. A gleam came into Balthasar's eyes.

"Good! It won't take but a few minutes, while I'm gone, please, make yourself at home here." He got up from his desk and headed past them.

"Oh!" spoke Bart. "Can you help us get out of here?"

"Oh! Yes of course! I'll open the old floodgate for you. Pass through the gate, you'll come to a long tunnel, follow that to get out, it'll lead you straight to the surface." Balthasar said with a smile, and continued on his way.

"So….what do you think about all that that he said?" asked Sean.

"Heh, who can say for sure. My main concern is finding that treasure. I mean, I've been battling Shakhan nearly forever, but I've never held the upper hand. My ancestors left that treasure for the Kingdom should it ever be in strife, and well, now is sure as hell as good a time as any." As Bart and Sean talked, they heard the rumbling of the floodgate being opened.

"Guess that means we can leave soon. What's your take on the old man, what's he down here for?" Sean said as they started walking toward the entrance of the hut.

"Who knows? Old people are batty if you ask me. I mean heck, look at old Maison." Before Bart could continue, a blood curdling scream came from the cavern, and they both knew at once that it had come from Balthasar. Sean drew his sword, and together they took off into the cavern, heading to where Balthasar was standing, looking up at Weltall.

"Whose Gear is this? Wait! It's yours!" he said in an acid tone. His right arm shot out and grabbed Sean's chin in an icy grip, jerking his head around to Balthasar's face. Sean was staring into Balthasar's now cold eyes. "You! You have his face! It IS you! You're the Slayer of God!" he let Sean go roughly and turned around, facing both of them. "Leave here, and NEVER return. Don't EVER let me catch you around here again! I went ahead and tuned up your Gears and opened the gate for you, now go!" He said, pointing at them in an almost demonic way, his warped fingers thrust out before him. He turned and stormed off for his hut.

"What in the? Slayer of God? What…what did he mean?" asked Sean.

"Don't know, don't wanna know, let's just jet out of here man! That guy gives me the creeps." Bart responded and headed for Brigandier. Sean got inside Weltall and together they headed into the tunnel. Sean took the time to familiarize himself with the controls, and after 15 minutes had gotten everything down, including the jet thrusters. As they neared the exit to the tunnel, they could see daylight from the far opening. As they headed forward however, a loud roaring noise came from behind them. Both turned their Gears around to see a massive metallic colored Gear heading toward them, massive jets on its back belching out flame as it slowly landed in front of them. Balthasar's voice shouted from over the cockpit speaker.

"Slayer of God, you will not escape! For the sake of this planet, I will destroy you!"

"It's that crazy old man again!" shouted Bart, getting Brigandier ready for combat.

"Don't bother to resist, my Gear, Calamity, is far superior to both of your Gears combined. I will make this quick" he said, smashing Calamity's two massive fists together. Sean could see that Calamity was going to be no easy pushover. The thing was twice the size of both their Gears, had heavy metal plating all over it that had to be several feet thick, and in general looked pretty impervious. Sean couldn't see any weapons, but Calamity's fists were easily the size of Weltall's chest, and they'd probably have no problem punching clean through both Brigandier and Weltall.

"Come on Sean! Let's teach grandpa here some manners!" Bart shouted as he dove at Calamity. Sean brought Weltall into play as well. They split up, coming in from two sides, but Balthasar brought up Calamity's short, stocky arms and swiped Weltall aside, knocking it on it's back. Brigandier fared no better. Dodging the shot, Bart next found himself up against Calamity's torso. His thick whips shot out and impacted across Calamity's front. The attack would've shattered any normal Gear, but Calamity had not a single scratch on it. Balthasar then brought up Calamity's right arm, and a small rocket engine fired, shooting off the hand. It headed straight for Brigandier and struck it right in the center, throwing it too to the ground. The rocket fist returned to Calamity's arm and reattached itself.

"You see! Your attacks are pointless! Calamity is truly one of a kind! There is no hope for you!" Balthasar cried as he started walking towards them.

"Dammit! What are we gonna do!" Bart called out to Sean. Sean knew that in about 10 seconds they'd both be dead unless…

"Stand back Bart! I'm…gonna try something!" Sean shouted, and brought Weltall back to its feet.

"You crazy! We both saw what that thing can do! Its armor is so damn thick that nothing we have will harm it. On top of that, it uses its bulk and weight to make its attacks more effective. There's nothing we can.."

"Shut up and watch!" Sean cut him off and powered up the boosters. He clenched his teeth. He had only one shot at this. He knew if he failed, he and Bart would be as good as scrap metal. Calamity lumbered toward him. He just had to wait for the right moment….THERE! Sean felt as if he wasn't himself anymore, and he launched Weltall straight at Calamity. As Calamity's fist came up, Sean caught it as it came down.

"What's this! Not possible! NO ONE is able to stop an attack like that!" Balthasar exclaimed in shock. With a strength he didn't even know he had, Sean twisted Calamity's arm, and to Balthasar's horror, it shattered before his very eyes. "No! This…this can't be!" he cried out as Sean swept around Calamity. He concentrated hard, building up this inner strength within him. With one, mighty blow, he threw a hook at Calamity from Weltall's right arm and to his amazement, punched clean through Calamity's armored torso. Balthasar let out a cry as Calamity exploded spectacularly under him, his seat launching itself out of Calamity's cockpit in time to avoid the awesome fireworks. A parachute opened up on Balthasar's back, and he glided to the ground, next to the flaming ruins of his Gear. He collapsed to the floor of the tunnel and before he could move, Sean was standing over him, his sword to Balthasar's neck. Balthasar closed his eyes.

"Just as I thought….I could not defeat you. You truly are him. Make it quick, I've lived far too long in this world, I do not fear death now."

"Tell me something old man, why do you think I'm a threat? I would never intentionally hurt anyone. What's this Slayer of God business?" Sean asked, feeling himself return to normal. Balthasar opened his eyes.

"You mean…you don't…wish to destroy this planet?" he asked, confused.

"Of course not! I don't know what your problem is but I am not what you seem to think I am." He responded.

"I…I….perhaps you're not like him. Perhaps maybe this time…look." He said with finality. "You're heading back with Bart, to his sand cruiser, I want you to pass a message along for me. Tell Veemon, he's a blue, very short dragon type thing, you'll know him when you see him, tell him, how very sorry I am for not being there when he needed me the most. Will you please tell him that for me? I'm sorry for attacking you…but you are clearly him, I..I just couldn't risk it happening again! The world was very nearly destroyed the last time it happened…I…I…oh, never mind. Just please tell good old Vee that for me, will you?" a tear glistened in Balthasar's right eye as Sean sheathed his sword and allowed him to come to his feet.

"I will old man" was Sean's simple enough response. Balthasar nodded, tears falling down his cheeks now.

"Thank you, thank you so very much. I…I hope we meet again." He said, and turned, hobbling off down the tunnel back to his hut. Sean watched him for a bit, before turning around.

"Dude, that was AWESOME! How on earth did you do that?" asked an amazed Bart as Sean climbed back into Weltall.

"I…I don't know….it was like that wasn't even me doing the fighting….I can't explain it." He said.

"You….can't explain…what? Well, whatever, man, you've got some serious moves." Bart said as they came out of the tunnel back into the glaring sunlight of the Aveh desert. Sean squinted, looking off in the distance. "Those two mountains….Doc told me about them…is that….Bledavik?" asked Sean, gazing at the two mountain peaks in the distance.

"Yep, that's Bledavik alright. Where I was born. The royal capital, we'll have to head there later, but for now, I picked up the Yggdrasil's signal, I think they're comin to get us, let's just hold tight here for now." Bart said.

"Sure" Sean replied, thinking about the mysterious Isaac Balthasar and his message.


End file.
